Schools out
From Mr Tom Benyon Sir: Rachel Johnson (What we can learn from Europe', 28 October) is right to be astonished that our education system remains mired in the 19th century. If you want the best education for your children, they will suffer the social disadvantage of being educated only in the company of other children from families who can pay £20,000 per child each year for about ten years. For four children it works out at £1 million gross. I know that these statistics are accurate as I still carry the financial scar tissue.
Of course, the state system will never be as good as the private, which can stream and pay the best teachers higher salaries than can the state.
The bulk of campaigning and motivated parents have opted out of the state system with their cheque books. I submit that until they join the state system the quality gap will remain.
I suggest that if William Hague announced that a Conservative administra- tion would remove charitable status from private schools, although the rage of protest would be deafening for a while, the middle classes would breathe a sigh of relief and vote Conservative in such quanti- ties that he would have a landslide.
Tom Benyon London SW8 From Mr Derek Bloom
Sir: Rachel Johnson appears to forget that we used to have our own equivalents to the lycees and Gymnasien: the grammar schools. Unfortunately, two public-school alumni called Crosland and Williams decid- ed to destroy them, while leaving the public schools unscathed. We see the conse- quences today. Revulsion against the injus- tice of the 11-plus has left us with an educa- tional caste system and the permanent supremacy of the public school.
Derek Bloom
London SW3
Previous page
