"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Andy Hall wrote:
On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 13:23:38 +0100, "IMM" wrote:
They are making a
half hearted attempt to reduce the 50% intake to Oxbridge of privately
educated school kids, which is something but hardly enough.
It's half hearted because to make too big an issue out of this would
expose the fact that prior to the introduction of comprehensive
education, the grammar schools provided substantial numbers of
students to Oxbridge such that in the 60s, over 60% of Oxbridge intake
was from the state sector.
The best of the state and direct grant grammar schools moved into the
private sector in the 70s and 80s which represents another factor as
to why Oxbridge intake appears to have shifted in favour of the
private sector; the other being the complete shambles and failure of
the comprehensive education system.
The result of that, in attempting to promote "fairness" has been that
very few kids actually receive an education appropriate to their needs
and abilities. Whether their needs are academic or vocational they
receive a dumbed down mediochrity that is a travesty of education as
it was a generation ago.
This leaves a situation where the parents of more academically able
children end up paying for private secondary education out of 40%
taxed income in addition to funding the broken state system and
practically bankrupting themselves. Even this only provides an
education that is as good as the state provided in the grammar schools
in the 60s.
Rather than accepting that the comprehensive experiment is an
unmitigated disaster and restoring a system of schools appropriate to
the students needs, the dogma is allowed to continue.
Little Middle England speaks again.... and what ********! Man of the
moment, Alistair Campbell went to a comp.
Grammar schools are all about good old British petty snobbery. I suppose you
want the 11 plus back again.
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