Vince Cable: Send poor pupils to Eton

[Lester Burnham]

The latest from the Lib Dems
BBC NEWS | Politics | Send poor pupils to Eton - Cable

The article is fairly vague.
I'm not against the principle, I think it would be great to even out the educational system. However, surely Academic merit should be involved? And what of people within the bottom 20% (or above for that matter)? Are they not, "poor enough" for financial backing?

Maybe I'm getting the wrong end of the stick. Thoughts?

[Neutral]

as long as they pass the entrance exam........

[black_matter]

it's a shame that poorer family's children are missing out due to financial problems.

They should work around that problem i reckon.

[KimyReizeger]

I would suggest kids from Tillydrone might struggle to fit in at...Eton! What a load of bollocks. The most expensive public school in Britain would put any conscientious person off of 'social mobility.'

Today's lesson, how to pronounce one's aitches.

[Dave]

They should be using the taxpayer's money to raise standards in state schools closer to those of private schools such as Eton, rather than engaging in pointless acts of social engineering.

[Teabags]

Originally Posted by Dave

They should be using the taxpayer's money to raise standards in state schools closer to those of private schools such as Eton, rather than engaging in pointless acts of social engineering.

Fuck me Dave, I agree with you. This will not happen often.

[Lester Burnham]

Originally Posted by Dave

They should be using the taxpayer's money to raise standards in state schools closer to those of private schools such as Eton, rather than engaging in pointless acts of social engineering.

Seconded.
It sounds incredibly flawed to me.

[pogofish]

Maybe they should simply get rid of schools altogether?

I'm no longer convinced that instutional education offers any advantages at all anymore.

[RockAustin]

Originally Posted by pogofish

Maybe they should simply get rid of schools altogether?

I'm no longer convinced that instutional education offers any advantages at all anymore.

School education is always going to be important. Some aspects/subjects provided by a University education don't offer the same kind of advantage any more.

How best to tackle the growing problem of impoverished children not achieving? Personally I don't think spending large amounts of money sending a few kids to private schools down in England is a great way of tackling a huge social problem. It is definitely ingrained into some sections of society that sponging off the state is the only option for them.

[pogofish]

Originally Posted by RockAustin

School education is always going to be important.

It is definitely ingrained into some sections of society that sponging off the state is the only option for them.

Not convinced - I worked in schools for quite some time & the amount of kids failing to thrive/falling through the cracks worried me a lot. As for socialisation, I saw much better examples in kids educated out of mainstream education - had over 1200 of them shoved on to our books at one point, the council seriously disliked any parent pursuing alternatives.

Schools play their part in that as well - Certainly where I went, it was either leave at 16 for a dead-end job, the dole or for the lucky few a trade apprenticeship. Going into further education was right-up there with the much vaunted jackpot-job for the other kids - being picked-up by a team as a professional footballer. The turn-out when the team scouts were about was amazing, although the chance of even getting a trial was miniscule. I later ended-up working with that school for a while & it was depressing how little had changed.

I do agree however that sending a token number to private schools is a joke. With only a few notable exceptions (Eton being one certainly) private schools consistantly underperform the state sector by a considerable margin.