[LMB] Prep and Finishing School OT:

[James M. BRYANT, G4CLF]

I do not want to be the cause of a proposal to
ban UK as well as US politics from the list so
will restrict myself to a minimalist reply to
Andrew Barton's sigh in defence of comprehensive
schools.

I do not believe that once and for all selection
at eleven is a good idea either. Children of all
ages should be encouraged to progress as far as
possible and there should be strong mechanisms
to ensure that late developers or the victims of
mischance in selection should have many further
opportunities to benefit from the optimum system
for them.

But there is, unfortunately, a political bias
that support for the less gifted is more important
than providing an environment where the most gifted
can make the most of their talents. And with such
an attitude it is easy for schools to develop an
ethos that disparages the more talented. Many, even
most, do not - but too many do.

IMHO selection by ability, constantly reviewed,
gives better opportunities to everyone.

And I doubt that the rise of comprehensive schools
and the increase in people receiving tertiary
education are the result of cause and effect since
similar increases in numbers in tertiary education
has taken place in countries with different systems.

What I also believe most strongly is that constant
political interference with any system ensures that
the people actually running it can never optimise
what they have but must continually be learning to
implement new wild-a**ed directives from people with
little practical knowledge of how the system
actually works but a strong desire to do something
spectacular in zero time to win votes.

James - who would be strongly tempted to vote for
any politician who promised to spend the majority
of her time in office beside the pool with drinks
with fruit on sticks