At a recent N.U.T. rally outside the Senedd in Cardiff only Plaid Cymru were represented of the main political parties (by a certain Bethan Jenkins A.M. ).
When she tweeted this fact, out from the building springs ex-Education Minister Leighton Andrews to interrupt Wales N.U.T. leader David Evans' speech.
He was initially jeered and then cheered as he pledged support for Comprehensive education. Compared to England's multi-tiered and semi-privatised system , Wales does appear egalitarian and fair, yet......to what extent?
There remains an overriding sense of failure, with many pupils not achieving the magic 'C' grade at GCSE. As I've blogged previously, only when schools are run democratically and the exam system abolished so pupils are rewarded for what they achieve throughout their school careers, can we even approach a fully comprehensive system.
Moreover, all public schools should be closed down.
'Public' schools are a misnomer : they aren't for the 'public', but are elitist.
The average annual fees for the likes of Howell's, Christ College and Llandovery range from £5000 - £8000.
The average wage in my home town of Merthyr Tudful is about £26000 per annum. In order to send little Callum or Caitlin to these places, parents would need to go without food or heat for a year.......not advisable!
Scholarships do exist ,but there are a limited number and all these institutions exist to make money, despite having charitable status.
A friend who used to work for the Charities Commission was always appalled by the fact that private schools were regarded thus.
Some deliberately fulfill community roles in order to feign this, but they are essentially places for the wealthy and privileged, often feeding the major universities like Oxford and Cambridge.
When we think about private schools we tend to envisage Eton and Harrow, yet there are many smaller ones, some of which depend heavily on the State for their very existence , as the children of the Armed Services board there (another State subsidy).
Many of these employ unqualified teachers and very dubious ones at that. I know because my father taught briefly in one in the Vale. He was a highly intelligent man with a serious mental illness, who should never have been allowed near school pupils. When dismissed for literally making them kiss his feet I wasn't surprised!
At University I had two close acquintances who attended private schools and took an extra year to try to get into Oxbridge. Both failed , and ended up at Aber . To their benefit, I'd argue.
Much has been made of the fact that many of the present Government attended the 'top' schools and that alone is proof of their shortcomings. However, they do produce a sense of entitlement, as well as a direct path to Oxbridge and many of the upper echelons of society.
Other factors emphasize the benefits of private education , including their outstanding facilities and small class sizes.
However, their serious faults are generally ignored.
Recalling those two students , there were common patterns of behaviour which could be ascribed to their education.
Both had an unhealthy obsession with porn, born out of all-male environments.
Both had peculiar relationships with parents based largely on financial obligations to them. Normal,loving relationships had been distorted and numbed by years of absence and replaced by the feeling of being an 'investment'.
Recently, State schools have been criticised for enabling parents to leave their children from 6 am - 6 pm, yet the private system goes way beyond this, allowing parents to abandon children at an early age and deprive them of family affection ( so much for the Tories mantra of the importance of 'the family').
Much has also been made of the way the present Government are totally divorced from most people and cannot comprehend how they live.
Private schools cater for one section of society only and inevitably cut them off from contact with people of all different classes. The schooling of the Government is one explanation of their ignorance and their ideologically-motivated cuts and austerity.
In short, we should stop lauding private education and examine the reality of a system which stunts and perverts the development of children.
It may bring them success in terms of money and status, but it doesn't make them successful, rounded human beings.
THE VALUE OF EDUCATION
He slept above those bodies ,
hooking them out
with a deft and practised stroke
to finger through at night
under the covers.
He was at ease at the crease
or setting field-placings,
a 'born captain'
his House Master had insisted.
He went sleep-walking
once standing semi-naked
in the landlady's bedroom
and even when she screamed,
stood hollow-eyed.
He always told me -
'There's nothing wrong with my schooling,
my parents made an investment!'
He paid them back at the wicket,
or stuffy library not lingering long.
They rarely came to visit
but when they did, bought him
half the high street
of that small seaside town.
I knew he'd sleep-walk
into his father's profession
and his son would follow
into Prep and dormitories,
know the value of education
down to the nearest penny.
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