The Sun says exclusively (but it’s in all the other papers) that David (and Samantha) Cameron are sending their daughter to their local state secondary school as if she’ll be getting ‘yer av’rage educashun’.
Well .. It’s a school in Westminster for a start. It’s an Academy. It’s a school for girls only. And it’s a Church of England Christian school that uses the slogan ‘God Give The Increase’ (whatever the F that means) on its website.
It’s not the sort of school the state should be funding.
It’s not the sort of school we should have in modern Britain.
All kids, not just some, deserve the highest quality of education the state can provide. I’m not arguing for comprehensive schools or against selection or against private schools here.
I am arguing.
1. That the Sun is being disingenuous in giving the impression that ‘Cameron’s kid is going to get the same education as your kid’.
2. That Academies (and Free Schools) are not truly ‘state schools’ even though they use public money.
3. That single-sex schools are not the best learning environment for teenagers who need to learn about each other as well as all that academic stuff.
4. That no religion, no daily worship bullshit, has any place at all in any school and that it should be kept out of all schools in receipt of public money by law.
Prime Minister Dave is probably only going through this probable charade – possibly to his daughter’s ‘cost’ – because of how much worse it would look if she were to go to the kind of school he went to (though not the school he went to, see 3).
He maybe deserves a bit of empathy for that.
Let’s see where his youngest child, his son Arthur, goes to school. By then Dave will not be Prime Minister, he’ll just be Dave; less deserving of un-earned respect, less deserving of empathy, less interested in doing what looks best, more interested more likely in his son’s self-interest.
And however much you might resent it and some of those who get to go there, Eton looks a pretty good school.
Then again Dave might not be Prime Minister and living in Westminster by the time his daughter goes to this ‘big school’ this September.
PS. While I’m banging on about Prime Ministers and what’s in today’s papers; I’m no supporter of the monarchy but I do think the Queen should be attending VE Day events if she wants to – even if there is an unclear General Election election outcome the day before. Let the politicians stay home if anyone has to.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/06/queen-to-miss-ve-day-anniversary-events-general-election-hung-parliament#img-1
Stephen Barker Says 