There is a very big in-tray on this government’s desk. Not only do we have increasing irritation with lack of any coherent direction over Brexit, but there are problems with health, the railways, housing, deficits of several kinds, youth employment and many others which impact upon ordinary people’s daily lives in a negative way. With these pressing priorities the re-appearance of the old grammar school chestnut is baffling. It is not the type of school which determines excellence in standards, but the quality of teaching in it, the rigor of the curriculum, the relevance of the subjects to pupil advancement and economic need, the commitment of parents to support their children and the quality of their home life; the list is long and gets longer.
Any fool can see that if you take the brightest and most committed pupils and put them all together you will get better academic results and they will be easier to obtain because you have dumped all the problems. Grammar Schools are not so much an opportunity but a cop out. What we need is less tinkering with structures and better investment in and support for really high standards in teaching and leadership in all schools everywhere.
And that requires a good deal more money than is made available from an under performing economy which has to be re-balanced in order to generate the revenue the government needs. So far the government has had little concrete to say about that. Its own performance rating must therefore be one which demands improvement.