THE MISEDUCATION OF GRAMMAR SCHOOLS

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academia, academy, academy schools, accountability, autism, BAME, children, comprehensive, customer, division, dyslexia, education, family wealth, grammar school, inelligence, inherited opportunities, inner city, oxbridge, private institution, privately educated, privilege, russell group, secondary education, self improvement, social immobility, social mobility, statistics, student, theresa may, tony blair, working class.

by Candice Nembhard

When I think back on my time in grammar school education, it is not with entirely fond memories. I was a working class, BAME student, whose parents were working tirelessly to make sure my educational needs were catered for — be it my uniform, school trips or even paying the annual school fund. Even so, little could be done on their part to protect me from the overly-competitive nature of the grammar school system; an educational structure that paraded itself as a diverse and inclusive market only out of an innate self-fulfilling prophecy to produce a particular class of intellectuals.

It is this underlying vision for education that further widens the gap between the lowest earners in Britain and those that are at the top. The division of children at the age of 11 to test their intelligence further predates to a privileged notion that intelligence is hereditary, and if not, that it can be bought.Continue Reading

PROFIT BEFORE PUPILS — SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Student and tagged academies, academy, budget, chief executive, coalition, Community, comprehensive, council-run, democracy, department for education, devolved powers, education, education secretary, george osborne, gove, Green Party, independence, junior doctors, local authority, local council, local elections, lucy powell, Michael Gove, michael wilshaw, national curriculum, national union of teachers, new labour, nicky morgan, ofsted, parents, privatisation, pupils, salary, school, school selection, schools minister, sponsor, state-funded schools, student, students, teachers, Tories, trust, Vix Lowthion, whitehall.

1

Wednesday was Budget Day and George Osborne set out plans for a huge shake-up of the schools system. He announced that schools in England must become academies, independent of local authorities, by 2020. It’s farewell to your old council-run comprehensive and hello to corporate sponsored academies — and no, you don’t get a say in the matter.

Along with junior doctor contracts, the majority of the public have not supported the government’s argument on academies — so the Tories have gone and imposed them anyway. Democracy, right?Continue Reading

%d bloggers like this: