Do you think we should abolish private schools?

I've been teased both for being too posh and too poor, although I will say that these days I tend to shy away from telling people I went to private school and live in rural Surrey because 9 times out of 10 I'm going to get judged for it, even going to the job centre a couple of years ago I got the distinct impression that some of the people who worked their thought I was too posh to be there.

On topic: Why would you decide to destroy the best schools in the country in an attempt to improve education? It's not going to happen, it will only make the education system in this country even worse. The answer is not to ban [private schools, the answer is to improve state schools so that they are operating at an acceptable level. To be honest though this kind of rank stupidity is so prevalent in this country I could see it happening.

Because I had a bad experience with rich kids at university and I'd like to see the smiles wiped off their smug faces.

How on earth can people agree with private schooling? It's beyond belief.

No child should be disadvantaged because their parents did not have the financial means necessary to see them through private education.

But you would happily see a wealthier child disadvantaged, and sent to a lower achieving school by closing the private one?

Sorry, but you can't have it both ways.

i heard today from one of my teachers that apparently some A level maths teachers in state schools only have a b or c in a level maths (that is as their highest qualification related to mathematics).
that is why the country is falling behind in education, because they use tax payers money to hire sub rate teachers.
Nearly every school has a smartboard in most classrooms, but whats the point of all this government funded high tech equipment if the person teaching with it is a moron....
food for thought

On terms of recieving educational prestige simply because of a wealthy family, then yes, private school's should be abolished.

I don't see what's wrong with all the nuts. Money buys things, and better schooling should be one of the things you can buy.

If it weren't for all of those rich people who can afford to pay for private schooling for their own children, everybody elses education would be considerably worse.

How on earth can people agree with private schooling? It's beyond belief.

No child should be disadvantaged because their parents did not have the financial means necessary to see them through private education.


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Because I had a bad experience with rich kids at university and I'd like to see the smiles wiped off their smug faces.

(EDIT: I admit there wasn't much logic behind typing this but I suppose it was intended as a joke; an ironic, purposefully-ignorant statement to catch your attention before delving into the serious side of my argument. To 'Rinsed' and 'mojojojo101': I'll admit that was a bit sharp-tongued of me, but I think both of you took this way too seriously and saw it as a golden opportunity to lecture me in how spiteful you wrongly perceive me to be, but I'd like to think that my opinion is reflective of a more 'normal person' perspective of people who read newspapers like the Guardian and music publications like NME and Stereogum, which you don't get a lot of on TSR.)

Think of it this way: why does any school need to be that good in the first place? I agree that state education is long overdue for a lot of improvement, but is it really necessary for every state school in the country to be as efficient as the finest public schools? Some state schools are already operating at an acceptable level. Besides if everyone had access to Eton-quality education, wouldn't our lives be too easy?

(EDIT: I'm sorry but I just have little sympathy or reason to defend toweringly expensive schools. It just seems absurd when you can go to school for free and still come out with a string of A*s provided you're focused enough. Since I managed this free of my parents cost or influence (and I'm not even very intelligent!), all I can do is mock them. Even if I had really thick offspring, I could not justify shelling out tens of thousands of pounds for them just so that, after having teachers spell everything out for them, they can go to a Russell Group university, so they can have a creme but intellectually-demanding job (IF they don't struggle with their degree), when there's every likeliness they'd be better-suited, less stressed and happier selling ice creams.)

You're right, the best schools in the country shouldn't be banned, but pupils should be selected on merit and not on parental income. In other words, private schools should be more like grammar schools, but without children having to sit a difficult test at age 11 to prove themselves 'worthy' - because segregating children at that age and damaging the self-esteem many lives in the process is not very ethical. Children and teenagers should be able to apply to such places whenever they want regardless of how rich or poor their parents are, and go through some sort of rigorous and fair testing so that teachers can determine whether or not they deserve a place - but unlike with scholarships, the testing shouldn't put people off or seem as difficult as slaying a three-headed lion; you shouldn't be led into thinking that it's hopeless if you're not MENSA material. In fact, it should be more about whether your child is 'thick' or 'not thick' rather than whether he or she is 'gifted' or 'not gifted', because that's just another cruel, selective form of elitism in my opinion. Lots of reasonably intelligent children are missing out because this country's education system only cares about 'the best' and won't cater to the needs of people who have 'merely above-average intelligence'...

The wealth of one's parents should not be the key factor of how successful a child becomes. That is completely wrong and I can't believe how much renaissance we still need to go through in order to change the way people think about this. The best universities are dominated by students from the cushiest of backgrounds to the point where it's actually embarrassing. Private schools help harness social inequality and social immobility which I find incredibly demoralising and even quite offensive. It's completely disheartening for non-stereotypical people like me who don't belong to the 'well-off' demographic, but who aren't incredibly thick either, to miss out on a standard education that would probably be very well-invested in us (and before anyone tells me that I should have considered a grammar school, I wasn't in the catchment area of one, nor was I a terribly bright 11-year-old).

Just because you'll never have true social equality doesn't mean there's no room for improving it. Tweaking the education system by making it less plutocratic just seems like such an obvious thing to do. The only people who would be hurt by this are annoying pro-establishment TSR users, but they actually comprise a minor sect of society. If everyone is in the same boat then you're left with fewer pissed-off people overall, just saying...

(EDIT: The pro-establishment bit (I think that's what you intended to say) wasn't specifically aimed at you 'mojojojo101'. It just happens to be the general mentality of people who use TSR. I can understand why some people would get defensive about my rich-bashing remarks (a crime that pales in comparison to rich-praising), but there's no need to cry about an innocently humorous generalisation of a website that both you and I use...)

I never argued with paying for better schooling, there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion. I simply argue that the mere fact that you attended a private school should actually count for anything in a fair society.

It really angers me how your parents income dictates whether or not you get a better education.

What it says on the tin.

I just left a private school, and I think the government should try to get state schools (the average) up to private school level before thinking about abolishing them. Why drag everyone down just in the name of faux 'equality'?

Discuss.

But it also determines whether you go on holiday to St Tropez or Clacton, whether you have a pet pony or a pet goldfish and whether your dinner comes from Waitrose or the Tesco value range.