We’ve been waiting for months to hear what the new Prime Minister was going to announce as her first major policy.
Unfortunately it seems that whilst the country may be under new management, the Conservatives’ obsession with grammar schools remains the same.
Grammar schools are an outdated relic, removed in most parts of the country for a reason – because they fail the majority of young people.
Regardless of how the PM might wish to spin her rehashed grammar school plans, those children who don’t make it into the best schools risk being left behind in schools with fewer of the brightest kids, fewer of the best teachers and potentially fewer resources too.
This is a policy designed to woo swing voters but which will only serve to further damage our underfunded education system.
Those who benefit will predominantly be the children of middle class parents – and no amount of talk about special tests will mask that. Grammar schools segregate schooling by class – putting the greatest opportunities in the hands of the few.
That’s not what’s best for young people, schools or the future of our country.
Everyone deserves to go to a good school – regardless of their background or their academic ability. That simply won’t be achieved by stacking even greater advantage and privilege in the hands of a few schools to the detriment of everyone else.
