After a span of some fifty years, a first new grammar school will open in Sevenoaks, in Kent after ministers allowed a grammar school to be built as an "annexe" of a school in another town. Acquisition of a place in a grammar school is like receiving a golden ticket for better education and better prospects in life.
There is no doubt that grammar schools provide superior education in comparison to comprehensives and give their students a head start over other children. But there is fierce competition for places and only the very few lucky ones get admitted. We Indians, particularly the Gujaratis, have always given importance to education for our children. In the absence of publicly available grammar school places, we scrimp and save to send our children to private schools. We know that in a fiercely competitive job market, the only way to give our children a better start in life is by arming them with better educational qualifications.
Dinesh Sheth
Newbury Park, Ilford
