The former Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, had outlined his aim to break down the “Berlin Wall” between state and private schools. He had then said that state schools in England should become more like private schools.
Now the Prime Minister, in his latest speech on 2 February, has jumped on the same band wagon. He says that he wants to wage war on mediocrity in state schools. That every failing secondary school will become an academy since evidence shows that academy schools do work.
Academies are independent, state-funded schools which receive their funding directly from the central government rather than through a local education authority and have been shown to improve twice as fast as other state schools. It is claimed that by cutting bureaucracy and putting more power in the hands of head teachers these academies will drive up standards.
David Cameron said that every secondary school which has been labeled in the “requires improvement” category in a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate would be expected to become an academy.
We Indians, particularly the Gujaratis, have always given importance to education for our children. We scrimp and save to send our children to private schools.
Private schools have smaller pupil teacher ratio (PTR) and pay more attention on home work. 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
