TORY MPS have expressed “severe reservations” about Theresa May’s plans to create a new generation of grammar schools.
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A new wave of grammar schools will end “selection by house price” and give every child the chance to go to a good school, Theresa May will say.
Dr Ian Luke, Dean of Education at the University of St Mark and St John, claims the current debate about grammar schools rests on too many assumptions about the merits of selection.
The Prime Minister talks about social inclusion while at the same time advocating social segregation through grammar school selection.
“This is about local circumstances, it’s about what parents want locally, there will be institutions that will come forward, there may be groups of parents who want to set up a new free school as a selective school”.
In her first major policy speech since becoming PM, Mrs May said the reforms were part of a wider programme to address the “sense of frustration” among struggling voters revealed in the European Union referendum.
The plan will face opposition.
Lincolnshire NUT Divisional Secretary Ken Rustidge said that he was concerned about how the proposals would impact on non-grammar schools in the county. That is simply unfair.
Asked for evidence on Radio 4’s Today programme which could help explain the government’s new focus on grammar schools, she stumbled and avoided the questions as best she could.
‘This is about being unapologetic for our belief in social mobility and making this country a true meritocracy – a country that works for everyone, ‘ she was due to say.
In announcing her plans, Mrs May outlined a number of steps aimed at ensuring that the new and expanded grammars took pupils from poorer backgrounds, including quotas.
“My fear is that by dividing children at 11 and by creating grammars and secondary moderns – because that’s what we’ll do – we won’t be able to achieve that ambition”.
“We want all schools to be outstanding in our borough, we have recently invested over £30million into our secondary school estate and we continue to support all schools in delivering their plans to secure outstanding education, particularly for those from disadvantaged family backgrounds”.
Labour shadow Angela Rayner warned MPs that an expansion of grammar schools would “entrench inequality and disadvantage”.
But in a speech in central London, May also set out new proposals to force independent schools to contribute more to the state sector if they want to keep the charitable status that brings sizeable tax advantages.
A Downing Street source said: “The admissions cap had the best of intentions but it has failed in its two key tests”. In the United Kingdom now, schools with more deprived intakes find it harder to attract the best teachers and leaders: Ofsted reports that schools in deprived areas are four times as likely to have poor leadership than those in better off areas. It is worth noting that the predictions of education “experts” on the bad consequences of expanding grammar schools make such heavy use of London’s singular experience.
She added: “Instead of adopting this fundamentally flawed approach, the Prime Minister should be investing in schools for everyone, not the chosen few”.
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said expanding grammar schools would further divide the country.
“We’re fortunate in Kent, we have a grammar school system, they have it in Buckinghamshire as well, and parents have a choice”.
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But her ideas were attacked by leading figures including the head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, who accused her of trying to “put the clock back”.
