The Leader of the Swindon Labour Group has stated his opposition to the government’s plans to introduce new Grammar Schools across England.
The Leader of the Labour Group, Councillor Jim Grant, said:
“I’m sure many people will remember this style of education system, when children’s futures were determined by an exam at the age of 11. This system cast-off millions of young people in to a second tier of education while the lucky few who passed the eleven-plus had a much better education through Grammar Schools.
I was one of those people who moved in to the second tier of education, the secondary modern, and this led to my school friends and I feeling like we were being taught in a second-class education environment.
It should be remembered that this style of education system was abolished by popular demand in the 1970s because people recognised the unfairness in this system and since then we have had a cross-party consensus to not have our state schools select pupils based on exams at 11 years old. Now Teresa May and her government wish to break that political consensus, which has even been criticised by the last Tory Education Secretary as a “distraction” in terms improving education outcomes.
It should also be remembered that teachers have not called for this style of education system to be reinstated. Our teachers who work on the frontline do not believe this style of education will improve education outcomes for our children, so why does Teresa May think she knows better?”