Tuesday, June 05, 2007

It's all in the grammar

The Reptile won't like me taking a different view to his but - unlike the new Conservative Party - here at the Reptile House you don't get fired for not towing the official line... especially when The Leader is out of the country and left you i/c.

DC is wrong about grammar schools for one simple reason - parents want choice. By moving forward solely with a policy of academies, you restrict parental choice. Furthermore, academic selection is both healthy and advantageous to society. Just by supporting grammar schools it does not follow that the less academically-able will suffer - massive amount of investment is needed in comprehensives and (even more importantly) in specialist technical schools to develop non-academic skills. There is an obsession with 'change' which is riddled throughout British politics - ergo, if you are not looking to change things then you are not making a difference. Rubbish.

The whole argument has become a farce. Today it was announced that the Conservatives will allow the building of new grammar schools in areas where there are already existing ones. Surely that would be a discriminatory policy towards anyone who doesn't happen to be fortunate to live in an area of existing grammar schools?!

I think it would have been better if David Willetts had kept his grammar school ideas firmly under wraps. This could yet prove to be one of the biggest mistakes in DC's leadership.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Grammar schools aren't about choice for parents. They're about selection on the part of the schools as to whom they will offer admission; in other words, the only one's getting to choose are the schools.

No, give parents vouchers and allow them to really choose with the power that really matters: money.

3:12 pm  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home