According to May this shake up in the school system is aimed towards allowing academically gifted children to excel to their full potential even if they come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Advertisement
The Prime Minister is reported to have told the Tories” 1922 Committee that she was not going to “turn the clock back’ to general exams for children at 11, but suggested that some of the 500 new free schools announced by David Cameron before he left office could be grammars.
Traditionally grammar school were designed for pupils who would go on to higher education (and therefore better jobs) while secondary schools were for children who would go straight into trade jobs.
Mrs May mounted a passionate defence of selection in education, saying that it exists at the moment for the wealthy.
The Government’s social mobility tsar Alan Milburn warned grammars could be a “disaster”, while charity Teach First said: “Education experts are united that the evidence shows grammar schools harm social mobility”.
Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner quickly dismissed May’s plans.
Former education secretary Michael Gove did outline his support for selective education at the age of 16 but failed to directly reference the Government’s new grammar school plans.
In a speech today, May confirmed controversial proposals to allow for the creation of new grammar schools, which determine their intake by academic selection, as well as giving the green light for existing grammars to expand. When Theresa May urged us to not “get lost in the argument about whether the grammar schools of the 1950s and 60s improved social mobility or not” she did so because she knows that argument has already been lost.
Two other Conservatives already questioned the policy in the Commons, while another has said she will vote against part of the proposals relaxing rules on faith schools.
Villiers talked of her “anxiety with these proposals”, and asked how the government could guarantee grammar schools would benefit their communities.
“We are not setting a quota for the number of grammar schools”, she said.
Supporters of grammar schools were pleased that she seemed to be signalling there could be an expansion in areas where there is a demand for them and that a prohibition on new schools might well be lifted.
How can a selective school deliver for every single child?
During Thursday’s debate, he argued helping teenagers who struggle with literacy and numeracy in state schools is the answer to tackling social mobility and building a skilled economy.
“Politicians – many of whom benefited from the very kind of education they now seek to deny to others – have for years put their own dogma and ideology before the interests and concerns of ordinary people”, May said.
Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said: “I strongly oppose 100 per cent faith schools and will be voting against religious segregation of our children”. When he was Tory leader, Michael Howard landed a rare rhetorical punch on Tony Blair when he said: “This grammar school boy will not take lessons from that public school boy”. “It is time for Government to step back and take a long hard look at what is needed to ensure that all children are given the education they deserve”.
Advertisement
The fact is that grammar schools rarely educate young people from low income backgrounds – just 3% of their pupils receive free school meals – so they exacerbate social divisions rather than easing them.
