Local education offers a cure for social ills

Alan R Irons and Richard Lucas (Letters, 5 January) make valid points in arguing that independent schools, and the children who attend them, should not be made to suffer because of efforts to improve academic standards in state schools.

However, neither responds directly to the comment of Ed Jupp (Letters, 2 January) that "Education is key to curing ills of social inequality" by offering a solution to the increasing dysfunction of our communities often resulting from seemingly alienated, or at least disenfranchised, individuals.

If a local school is closed and children are forced to go to schools in other towns or suburbs nearby or to board in another part of the country, that is a "loss" to the local community, even if the academic education is of the same standard. The "deported children" also lose out through not having the range of opportunities to interact with family members or those who contribute to our local communities and society in so many ways.

So while sending our children to high-performing independent schools, and perhaps on to Oxford or Cambridge, may appear wise, it is not necessarily a strategy that will help them achieve fulfilling lives in today's world.

Surely a more enlightened approach to building a better future for all of our children is to focus resources on our towns and suburbs and encourage people to stay when practical, raise families and in general positively contribute to their local communities.

Mr Jupp is correct in emphasising the importance of education in our overall wellbeing as a society, but what perhaps also needs to be emphasised is that we are experiencing the dawn of a new age in terms of communications technology, renewable energy technology and environmental awareness.

The "education highway" to London that seemingly served some Scots well in the past – and perhaps even Scotland overall at the time of the industrial revolution – is no longer fit for purpose for those who not only wish to see all of our children receive a high-quality education in the broadest sense, but also wish to see a more equitable future society in which local communities across Scotland grow and prosper.

STAN GRODYNSKI

Cairnsmore

Longniddry, East Lothian

In reply to those who advocate a levelling-up of educational standards, this experiment has already been done in the 1970s, when the "good" school, Allan Glens in Glasgow, was changed from being selective to serving the catchment area.

It is not the building, nor the teachers which are the main factor in a school's success, but the pupils.

Indeed, I would argue that teachers in the state sector are probably better at their job than those in the private sector as they work continually in adverse conditions.

The private schools have another advantage – if they do encounter "difficult" pupils, they are not stuck with them. I would suggest this is the main argument for going private or moving to a better catchment area, so that one removes one's children from exposure to these nuisances.

JAMES MORISON

Ferguston Road

Glasgow