LATEST NEWS AND COMMENT 

May 2008

Grammars under threat

A secret plan has been unleashed to close grammar schools by stealth. Labour ministers and education chiefs are accused of staging a three-pronged offensive to wipe Britain's remaining grammar schools off the map...The Government is encouraging local authorities to merge schools, citing falling demand,  say campaigners. Head teachers involved are unofficially offered redundancy cash to go quietly and others are offered £200,000 to take a failing comprehensive under their wing. Primary schools are accused of limiting the number of pupils sitting the 11-plus exam that is the gateway to grammars. Hilary Douglas, Sunday Express, 25 May 2008.

The proof that we should all keep minding our grammar

Labour backbenchers are trying to scupper Britain's remaining 164 grammar schools, saying they do not help youngsters from poorer backgrounds. But the success they offer in terms of social mobility for lower class pupils in Northern Ireland dismisses the claim as a lie.

There, with its 11-plus exam and an entirely selective education system, 42.4 per cent of school-leavers going on to university come from lower class backgrounds. In Britain that figure drops to just 28 per cent, with the supposed 'equality' of comprehensive schools for all. Hilary Douglas, Sunday Express, 11 May 2008

Classes where bright children can't shine

Comprehensives are failing to bring out the best in tens of thousands of bright children, according to a Government education quango. The first analysis of its kind found pupils were more likely to get top grades at GCSE if they attended schools with lots of other high-achieving youngsters. Laura Clark, Daily Mail, 1 May 2008