From the wealth of statistics charting the decline of the UK's education system and limited personal experience (as well as professional experience of recent university graduates), I had assumed that New Labour had achieved their aim of wrecking the State education system.
Not so, it would appear: a report published today suggests that half of State schools are still desirable enough to be able to operate some sort of entry criteria - even if this is only as crude as sounding out whether a candidate's parents are married.
My wife decided a couple of years ago that 'she only wanted the best' for our children and they went private*. The fees are hideously expensive of course - about as much as the equivalent cost of a State school place, once you factor in the costs of a seemingly endless number of layers of bureaucracy and quangoes and the hidden cost of Teachers' Pensions - but to be fair, the admissions process was dead simple. They did not ask for proof of address, marital status, religion or anything like that; they just had us in for a chat and then allowed our children in for a half-day to see how well-behaved they were and that was that.
Hey ... here's a thought ... if we gave parents the choice of vouchers instead of a State education, then every child could have that privilege ...
Just sayin', is all.
* We're a normal married couple in that respect. I make the big decisions like whether we should leave the EU ...
Surprised by the outcome
1 hour ago
3 comments:
The problem isn't state schools, the problem is how can the gov get parents who consider their parents education to be massively important to carry those parents
who don't give a fuck about their kids education.
Its another one of those "elephant in the room" issues, as the gov chucks money at inequality it doesn't want to deal with the problem caused by some parents themselves. Easier to deal with external problems than acknowledge the nasty internal one that requires responsibility on the part of the perpetually irresponsible.
mjw, nail, head; that's some aim, buddy.
Mark, you should hold your head in shame that you could possibly want to give your children the best start in life by giving them a top-quality education!
PS Should you move to South Bucks or Kent, your children will be able to benefit from a Grammar school education that's free - albeit house prices are higher!
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