It’s the rule rather than the exception when it comes to British politics, but the case of grammar schools offers an especially egregious example of wealthy, typically ageing and privately educated Conservatives telling the working class to forego their principles and do as they say if they wish to be better off.
The sole argument in favour of the grammar school system maintains that selective education provides social mobility with one of its biggest boosts. But those who the system would actually affect tend to consider that the segregation of pupils based on ability – traditionally at the tender age of just eleven years old – effectively leaves the majority both practically and psychologically on the scrap heap. Aside from dividing neighbours and separating friends, and channelling resources to a small number of elite institutions, it is surely wrong for a child at such a young age to be faced with the pressure of a test that will significantly decide their future.
One might wonder why social mobility can’t be achieved in other ways, why only a minority of schools are expected to reach aspirational standards. And besides the grammar school system itself is often argued to entrench class bias, and to vary in its efficacy by region beyond utterly neglecting late developers.
These objections to the grammar school system are why the Conservative government – in the midst of its plans to expand currently existing grammar schools, to open new grammars, and to even allow some currently non-selective schools to become selective – has kindly proposed to take the issue to another referendum. Only following the balls-up over Brexit, this time the right to vote won’t just be limited to British citizens.
Instead the Conservatives have drawn up a test, which must be passed with a threshold of 80% to secure the right to vote over the future of grammars. The test will cover British history from the time of the Kingdom of Mercia, include a spattering of Latin, and can be bypassed by those who pay the additional rate of tax. So if you have hateful memories of the old grammar system, or believe that this actually represents the only chance for your child to do more than get on, better find some musty old books and start studying.
