Monday, May 17, 2010

The Case For Grammar Schools - Again!

Cristina Odone, writing in today's Telegraph:

There is one way for children in this country to climb out of the rut they’re born into. It’s called grammar schools. They allow the brightest children from disadvantaged homes to climb out of their milieu. They provide their students with aspirations and fill them with the self-confidence to fulfill them. But under the Conservatives, and then Labour, these schools have shrunk to 164, catering for only 140,000 students. Labour hates them because they’re selective, and therefore divisive; David Miliband, during his tenure as Secretary for Education, embraced the comprehensives as the only way forward. David Cameron, when he was going through his we-must-be-more-like-Polly-Toynbee moment in Opposition, bought this line and turned his back on grammars as well; and the Lib Dems had no plans to resurrect them.

1 comment:

Ben Ross said...

Cameron loved the idea of following the plans of Scandinavian schools.

Just wish someone would follow the plans of the best British education system. The on in Northern Ireland. 11+ system...better GCSE and A level results than England Scotland or Wales.

The retreat of liberalism goes on

As communism seemingly disappeared from view at the end of the 1980s, in a sudden and unexpected blow-out, there was plenty of triumphal...