Are Public Schools such as Eton and Harrow a blight on British society?

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IMO it would be crazy to get rid of them; Britain's public schools are world renowned. To me it makes no sense to get rid of the best performing schools just so everyone hypothetically has the same opportunity. And lets be realistic here, if they were abolished, Kate and Wills certainly wouldn't be sending Prince George to the local state comprehensive, he'd probably be sent over to Switzerland to go to boarding school there. It probably wouldn't make the slightest difference to social mobility.

Reply 61

callum_law

Original post by Ronda Rousey

like what?

Hey Ronda, nice to see you have joined the site and look forward to your return to the Octagon.

Harrow: A Very British Institution.

Reply 62

markova21

Original post by Josh Lyman

Yeah but he only got A, B and a C at alevel for a 200k education.

Did he?What subjects were they in,do you know?

Reply 63

Josh Lyman

Original post by markova21

Did he?What subjects were they in,do you know?

Geography, history of art, biology.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 64

TimmonaPortella

Original post by Josh Lyman

Geography, history of art, biology.

I'm not sure it makes that much sense to call into question Eton's value for money on the basis that a royal didn't get great exam results. Exam results aren't all that people are paying for, and I'm not sure the royals have traditionally placed emphasis on getting good exam results -- why would they?

Reply 65

Josh Lyman

Original post by TimmonaPortella

Yeah, he also got the best in their family in terms of results and I agree that there isn't exactly a need for them.

The only way to judge a school's academic ability is through their exam results but in terms of everything else they offer, it is beyond excellent.

Reply 66

MoralResurgence

No its just part of their genetic heritage, in the same way that I wouldn't interfere with the ex mining contingent of the newcastle football supporters club. Working class people dont value education in the same way purer more elite people do anyway. Its about hands on pure graft for them; they recruit each in the pubs/in the football stands and so on - there is clear nepotism involved among working class social networks. They dominate skilled trades, the armed forces, contruction and so. Thats fine, just let people have their own culture/traditions.

Reply 67

username2094811

Original post by Jazzy Foot

How exactly are they are a blight? They educate some of the finest young minds in the country and will send on their students to the best universities and into the best professions.

'They educate some of the finest young minds in the country.'

No; they educate the minds of people with the richest parents. Having rich parents and going to an expensive school is not the same thing as having high intelligence and I doubt those things correlate.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 68

Failingstudent98

Original post by MoralResurgence

Except being at a grammar school almost all pupils come from working class background and excel academically. It's not our culture to be educated by the state, with no funding or opportunity to network with the rich (because sadly that's still how you get to the high places). We would all jump at the chance of a private education but could not afford it. And we are prepared to work a lot harder for academic success because we know we don't have mummy and daddy to fall back on to support us if we don't get amazing results. I wonder who would really get the top university places if we all had to attend the same schools.

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