Let’s turn failing public schools into centres of excellence for all

By Kit Leary

Sorry, readers, you’ve caught me at a weak moment here, just give me a moment please… I’m just reading a heart-wrenching story in the Times. There aren’t many stories in that newspaper that bring a tear to my eye (apart from the absolutely tragic news that Jordan and Peter Andre have split – now there was one marriage which I was sure would last forever) but I think they’ve managed it.

It is, of course, the news that one private school is closing every week.

Doesn’t it just break your heart? The Times are reporting that because of the recession, thousands of little Tamaras and Quentins will have to go to state schools where they will have to mix with children who eat Fish Fingers and watch Sky One. Oh, the humanity!

Well, actually, it doesn’t make me sad at all. I do feel sorry for the kids who have to change schools in the middle of their education (which I imagine to be a bit traumatic, and at the very least a pain in the proverbials, especially during exams – I doubt they chose to go to the schools they do) and the teachers who have, or might, lose their jobs when schools close (though, to be fair, it is not as if there is currently a dry spell for teaching positions) and especially for the support staff who lose their jobs (for whom it is harder to find suitable alternative work in a very competitive job market).

But do I feel sorry that these schools are closing, in principle? No, not really.

There are many reasons why privilege is still entrenched in British society, but the ability to buy a superior education is perhaps the most explicit example of it. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that much of the impending Tory Government that – bar an act of God or similar deity – will come in 2010 are all products of this system of naked class privilege, and that many of the people – bankers, CEOs, stockbrokers and other similar detritus – who got us into the current recession are also products of the same system.

What private education does prove, to an extent, is that your life chances are still influenced by your socialisation as a child – not just the values you are instilled with, but also the friends you make, and the name of your school on your CV. After all, “Eton” looks a lot better than the “Nicholls Sixth Form” that I have on my CV. This isn’t to trash Nicholls Sixth Form (a very good sixth form centre in Ardwick, Manchester as it happens) but I don’t think it’s produced one CEO or Government minister, or even MP.

The kids that went into, and came out of, each place were probably just as good if given an equal chance, but the kids from Ardwick didn’t have Daddy’s connections – or his chequebook.

But there is still a role for the ex-schools which are shutting or merging every week. Now, to simply say that the state should take them all over sounds a bit too much like, well, socialism, which I know scares some Labour people in Westminster, so here’s a more palatable idea.

Every time a private school shuts, the state takes it over – lock, stock and barrel – and turns it into a centre of excellence for kids who have been excluded, or are at risk of the same. Or as a study centre for inner city kids, where they can get crash revision or courses for exams. It’s a winning idea. It avoids job losses, excellent resources are at the disposal of the state education systems, and all of it would be at the disposal of every school or college student who wants it.

It’s a small step, and there might be opposition from snobs, but who cares what they think? I certainly don’t. It would be a bold step, and would mean that we work towards a more equal society, and be a victory against unearned privilege.