PLAN FOR EDUCATION by Alan Rooney
More councils are now plenning for comprehensive education - over 90 now have, or are planning such schenes, And many other authorities are moving in the same direction, Such plans deserve the enlightened support of all socialists. Bleven-Plus
There is rather wide criticism of the eleven~plus, and the Labour Govern-~ ment is firmly ageinst this brutal system of selection. Under this system, 30 per cent are successful but 70 per cent of -ur children, mainly working-class, are told that they have feiled at eleven years of age.
Of those who pass this examination, six per cent go to the fee-paying public schools, 17 per cent to grammar schouls, three per cent to technical hig) schools and four per cent to comprehensive schocls. The 7O per cent failures go to secondary moderns.
It's not surprising that the eleven-plus can cause sreat distress for the children who fail, their parents and even their teachers, The various compre> hensive education plans aim to end this unhealthy competition. Comprehensives
It would seem clear that the 70 per cent eleven-plus frilures, their parents and their secondsry modern teachers would gain enormously by the introduction of comprehensive education,
The Liverpool educntion cormittee should be solidly supported in theit urgent plan to introduce # renal system f comprehensive education next yerr. Bristol, too, is b-ldly ending its subsidy to the direct-grant grammar schools. Campairzn
But the opponents of comprehensives have organised against them. This should spur parents and teachers of secondary modern school children and all sccinlists to actively campaign for comprehensive schools.
The opposition comes mainly from the grammar schools. However, their opposition fails to admit that a comprehensive eduention policy aims to bring all schools up to a grammar school level. Cless Conflict
It's sad toa see the way sone gramnar school parents, teachers and pupils want te keep down those of the secondary modern schools. There's the particularly sad spectacle of some working-class parents with their children at grammar schools trying to keep down "the secondary modern lot". This is probnbly causing much amusement to the top six per cent of British school~children who attend the fse-paying public schools. How they must be enjoying themselves over these "lower class" squabbles. Public Schools.
Unfortunately the comprehensive schools won't affect them. The public schools will still provide an education for "top people". The only way to break up the political power of Eton, Earrow, Winchester, Oxford and Cambridge cir uit is to ban the fee=paying public schools altogether. This is really vital, It will he no use talking about the quality of opportunity of the comprehensive scheols if the rich can still buy eduzational privilege for their children «t public schools, It is to be hoped that Mr.Stewart, the new Minister of Education, will completely renedy this by integrating the public schocls ints the comprehensive system of educations