School Postcode Lottery
03/07/09 14:39 Filed in: Community
Is the Education system failing in the UK? Have you been affected by the postcode lottery on education?
I read an article on the BBC News website today regarding Harrow Council in London. They had decided to stop the landmark action of prosecuting a mother for lying on an admissions form in an attempt to get her son into a popular school. The council had intended to use the Fraud act 2006 but, after advice, were unsure it could be applied in these circumstances. The council are now calling on the government to close the loopholes in the law. The article said there was evidence that this was a growing problem and that instances of parents falsifying forms in order to get children into good schools had trebled over the last couple of years. It also stated that the school had received 411 applications for its 90 available places in September 2008. The Mother in question regarded the Councils actions as ‘Disproportionate’.
I don’t claim to know enough about this case to appreciate how much the mother had tried to trick the Authorities. However what struck me was the fact that the Council was considering prosecuting the woman, instead of spending their time and resources trying to determine why so many families wanted their offspring to attend this school. I appreciate its a fact of life that some schools will be revered more than others but to have almost 5 times the number of applicants to places seems ridiculously unbalanced.
What does it say about the schools in the area where the mother lived? Are they that bad that people have to resort to this? What is this school doing that makes it so great? Could the Council, or Councils, involved not provide resources to enable the other less popular schools to mimic this one? Is it merely the exam results that make this school so much in demand or does it offer more?
If the trend to put false addresses on admission forms is on the increase what does this say about the state of the British education system. In the past other countries have praised our education system and strived to enable a greater influx of foreign students. Is this still the case now? Don’t forget that this is what the british eduction system refer to as a Primary school, i.e. it is suitable for 4-8 year olds. It is not a senior school, where the exam results are critical to a child’s further education. In other countries, where the children are put through formal education at a much older age a school of this level doesn’t exist. Are we in danger of trying to push our children too much too soon? Having recently read blogs in which one student wrote “The British system is elitist”, “Throughout school you are pushed through exam after exam” it seems we haven’t got the right balance. This particular student went on to describe it as “stressful, frustrating and BORING, for 95% of kids out there”. Judging by a lot of the comments he received he is not in the minority. So maybe it is time for some serious thinking on how we can provide a better education for all of our children regardless of their location.
I don’t claim to know enough about this case to appreciate how much the mother had tried to trick the Authorities. However what struck me was the fact that the Council was considering prosecuting the woman, instead of spending their time and resources trying to determine why so many families wanted their offspring to attend this school. I appreciate its a fact of life that some schools will be revered more than others but to have almost 5 times the number of applicants to places seems ridiculously unbalanced.
What does it say about the schools in the area where the mother lived? Are they that bad that people have to resort to this? What is this school doing that makes it so great? Could the Council, or Councils, involved not provide resources to enable the other less popular schools to mimic this one? Is it merely the exam results that make this school so much in demand or does it offer more?
If the trend to put false addresses on admission forms is on the increase what does this say about the state of the British education system. In the past other countries have praised our education system and strived to enable a greater influx of foreign students. Is this still the case now? Don’t forget that this is what the british eduction system refer to as a Primary school, i.e. it is suitable for 4-8 year olds. It is not a senior school, where the exam results are critical to a child’s further education. In other countries, where the children are put through formal education at a much older age a school of this level doesn’t exist. Are we in danger of trying to push our children too much too soon? Having recently read blogs in which one student wrote “The British system is elitist”, “Throughout school you are pushed through exam after exam” it seems we haven’t got the right balance. This particular student went on to describe it as “stressful, frustrating and BORING, for 95% of kids out there”. Judging by a lot of the comments he received he is not in the minority. So maybe it is time for some serious thinking on how we can provide a better education for all of our children regardless of their location.
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