Should private schools be abolished?

[RHB]

Bring back grammar schools.

They haven't gone away in Southend.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

They haven't gone away in Southend.

More's the pity.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Good idea. Or changing it to something more useful. You can get on in life by learning to read and write and learning how numbers work. Knowing who was the fifth wife of Henry 8th, or the capital of Katmandu might be useful in a pub quiz but these sort of subjects should be downgraded to "interests" and can be studied/learnt in your own time. RE? If you are interested, go to Church. Art? Practise at home.
You can't make someone cleverer than they are. Teaching them stuff will not make them smarter.
Trim the curriculum down to include loads more maths, plenty of English - forget English lit you can learn that for yourself - include PE or some sort of sporting activity - cooking ( mainly for girls obviously), and money management which if done properly would teach people not to get themselves into a **** load of debt.
Save History, Geography, Biology, RE for people who want a career which needs knowledge of those subjects and teach them at University. Foreign language? Pointless, everyone speaks English.
Teach kids the basics and whilst at it teach them some discipline and respect. If they can't behave kick them out of school and let them get on with it.

How much maths or English do you need to know?

I wasn't taught any English in secondary school (English lit and grammar through foreign languages) and since my maths A-level I'm not sure I've used any maths I wasn't taught before the age of 13. When was the last time you used trigonometry?

Agree on PE, cooking and money management. You should add IT to that as well.

What's far more important is learning to think for yourself. I learnt this through subjects like history.

 

[londonblue]

What's far more important is learning to think for yourself. I learnt this through subjects like history.

What's even more important is learning to skive, and I did that in every subject.

 

[RHB]

More's the pity.

I disagree, but as this thread is about Private Schools I'll stop there.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I disagree, but as this thread is about Private Schools I'll stop there.

(Since the original article on which this thread is based was written by Alan Bennett,an ex-grammar schoolboy,I think grammar schools have some relevance to the discussion)).

The argument against Grammar schools was won back in the 60's.

Boroughs like Southend, (and elsewhere which retain them,especially in Kent), are anachronisms.

A Labour government with any guts would have ablished them completely,a long time ago.

 

[RHB]

(Since the original article on which this thread is based was written by Alan Bennett,an ex-grammar schoolboy,I think grammar schools have some relevence to the discussion)).

The argument against Grammar schools was won back in the 60's.

Boroughs like Southend, (and elsewhere which retain them,especially in Kent), are anachronisms.

A Labour government with any guts would have ablished them completely,a long time ago.

Labour certainly had long enough when it was in power, yet they didn't. We could probably argue about 'guts' till the cows come home, but I think it is more to do with the main point of this thread. Would the voting populace of this country have thanked them for it? This then becomes a more debatable question as 40+% of the nation can't be arsed to vote (should be compulsory in my view) and they were more worried about the reaction from the silent sizable minority. I think it goes back to what I said in an earlier post, current democracy/capitalism in this country dictates that the status quo remains.

 

[blues_r_best]

What's even more important is learning to skive, and I did that in every subject.

Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

(Since the original article on which this thread is based was written by Alan Bennett,an ex-grammar schoolboy,I think grammar schools have some relevance to the discussion)).

The argument against Grammar schools was won back in the 60's.

Boroughs like Southend, (and elsewhere which retain them,especially in Kent), are anachronisms.

A Labour government with any guts would have ablished them completely,a long time ago.

Would those Labour politicos be the same lot that send their kids to private schools?

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Would those Labour politicos be the same lot that send their kids to private schools?

Right you are.As Eldridge Cleaver said:-"If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem."