No private schools

In her speech at the Conservative conference Scottish leader Ruth Davidson extolled the virtues of “lower ­taxation, small government, educational choice and enterprise”. In so doing, in my view she betrayed a fundamental flaw in right-wing thinking on education.

“Educational choice” is a beguiling notion. Who doesn’t want choice? The problem arises when we examine people’s very different abilities to access such choice.

Independent, fee-paying schools boast of their superior facilities and outcomes but they educate less than five per cent of Scottish children and it is clearly impossible for the state to ­provide a comparable level of ­resources for the remaining 95 per cent – especially if it follows Ms Davidson’s “lower taxation” philosophy.

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As a retired state secondary headteacher who taught for two years in an English public (ie ­private!) school in my early ­career, I am in no doubt that an important step towards creating a socially just and enterprising society would be the abolition of private, fee-paying schools, with their superior resources and favoured access to positions of wealth and power for a ­privileged minority.

To those who would throw their hands up in horror at the thought, I would point to the ­example of Finland, which ­experienced a major economic crisis in 1991 (following the ­collapse of the Soviet Union) but has since improved its educational system from below average into the top performing system in Western Europe.

In the process it has also 
transformed its economy and 
society, so that it is now at or 
near the top of most 
desirable global economic and social indicators (including 
“competitiveness” and “satisfaction with life”).

And one of the key factors in the Finnish drive for educational improvement was the abolition of private, fee-paying schools – together with formal school ­inspections and external examinations below 18 years.

It should be noted that Finland has not banned educational choice as such. A small number of approved independent schools receive government funding but are not allowed to charge fees. This gives real meaning to the phrase “educational choice”.

Lest this be thought too draconian an approach in the short-term, here’s a starter suggestion: it is reckoned that the total amount saved by Scottish independent schools through their charitable status last year was about £5 million – enough to employ more than 150 teachers.

This unwarranted status should be removed and the money transferred to the state sector.

Colin Weatherley

Gullane

East Lothian

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