Elitism: should private schools be abolished?

I misunderstood your earlier post. I thought you meant some sort of state pre-school? Obviously taking away people's children is immoral but there has to be some way to make sure social background doesn't influence academic success

So you think some people are genetically superior?
Sounds like a certain A. Hitler

So you think some people are genetically superior?
Sounds like a certain A. Hitler

Their exams should be made harder to offset the addition coaching they've been given and give a more accurate reflection of the pupil's actual academic ability. They should also be forced to live up to their charity status by sharing their facilities with local state schools.

Their exams should be made harder to offset the addition coaching they've been given and give a more accurate reflection of the pupil's actual academic ability. They should also be forced to live up to their charity status by sharing their facilities with local state schools.

private schools should not be abolished. this is another example of pushing down the rich rather than pulling up the poor in the name of Equality.

This definitely sounds like a good idea. I wonder if any schools have actually done this

So you think some people are genetically superior?
Sounds like a certain A. Hitler

we are all genetically different some have been blessed with superior athletic ability, others ability with maths, or languages etc. people are not the same and some of the differences come from genetics.

I'd support the sharing of facilities.

However, your first point is ridiculous, and based off the false assumption that ability is innate and unrelated to nurture. Private school pupils do better because they are more able, and the extra education they receive is one of the reasons for this (although probably much less than their SES and related factors). .

The point of exams is that they are the same everywhere, so give a fair comparison of individuals' abilities. The extreme conclusion of your logic would be to tailor an exam to every individual so that we all get the same scores

I disagree with your general stance, bit too 'social Darwinist' for me.

Are you even serious?

If they were more able, why pay money to go to private school at all them?

Private school pupils do better because they are rigorously given one-on-one coaching to pass exams, and spoon fed model answers to memorise. They are no more able at all.

The same exams would only give a fair comparison of ability if each pupil was also given the same level of instruction and assistance.

As they are not, the exam system is deeply and obviously flawed.

Either we adjust the exams in step, we remove the additional assistance, or we simply accept that a pupil who gets an A from a private school is only as smart as a pupil who gets a C from a state school.

It's not something you can disagree with because you don't like it. It's supported by evidence, it's basically a fact.

This is one piece of research, which found that the gene in question accounted for only half a percentage of the variation in intelligence. It certainly is not conclusive evidence that intelligence is genetically determined.

See my response to alexh42. Furthermore, this is a viewpoint which is used to legitimate/justify fascist regimes (such as Nazi Germany) as well as racism generally.

private schools should not be abolished. this is another example of pushing down the intelligent rather than pulling up the unintelligent in the name of Equality.

Their exams should be made harder to offset the addition coaching they've been given and give a more accurate reflection of the pupil's actual academic ability. They should also be forced to live up to their charity status by sharing their facilities with local state schools.

Just because a fact is misused, doesn't make it any less valid.

True, but it still supports racism. Also, genetics is a small part of this argument; socio-economic background is still important As the article I originally posted a link to shows, the majority of the most high-paying jobs are filled by people who went to private/independent schools. A report by the Smith institute (http://www.smith-institute.org.uk/file/Who-Governs-Britain.pdf) drew similar conclusions.

private schools should not be abolished. this is another example of pushing down the intelligent rather than pulling up the unintelligent in the name of Equality.

Where is the evidence to suggest that those who attend a private school are distinct in terms of intelligence than their cohort who attend state schools?

I have two points to make regarding that.

The first I've already mentioned - private school pupils are simply more able than state school pupils. They get a vastly disproportionate number of top grades, so it's not all that surprising that they are over-represented at the top of the workforce.

And secondly, if people are getting these jobs because of some sort of nepotism or old-boys network, then the solution is to prevent nepotism, not ban private schools.