Calls this week for the abolition of independent schools, grammar schools and faith schools – popular schools, successful schools.
Why should anyone want to abolish successful schools?
Because it is claimed that access to a good education is so often dependent upon wealth, or success in the 11-plus exam or upon adherence to a religious faith.
The real reason for the success of these schools is that they can insist that parents support them. Parents use wealth or 11-plus success or religious faith to get children into good schools because of this. They do not want their children’s time wasted in a school where significant numbers of children are poorly motivated or poorly behaved.
Instead of abolishing successful schools we should find ways to insist that all parents support their children’s schools as part of greater expectations of parents. If all children had supportive parents, all children would get a good schooling and independent schools, grammar schools and church schools would disappear. Until we do this, many parents will feel that they have a responsibility to their children to seek out schools which can insist on high levels of support from parents and will use whatever resources or ploys are available to them.