Assisted places at good schools? Hoc age!

The usual supporters of an education state monopoly are having a hissy fit at Bromley Council considering supporting parents of children in private schools who lose their jobs. You would have thought that the council was forcing children to beg barefoot in the streets to hear some of the comments. Sadly, Bromley have backed down from the proposal - perhaps because of the fuss but officially because of other priorities in education.

However, the episode reminds me of a conversation with a private school headmaster on this very subject. His school is one of the fifty best schools in the country, has an admirable record of supporting talented children through bursaries and in partnerships with local primary schools. The headmaster's proposal was this:

The local education authority pays exactly what it would pay in AWPU (age-weighted pupil unit) funding and the school would top up to its fee level using bursaries. The places would be reserved to bright children from deprived areas and the school would provide additional, personal and family support.

I think this is the direction we should be going in education - away from the failing state monolith and towards a more free, more varied and more responsive mixed economy in education. And, we can put this in place today without any change to legislation or regulation!

As one top private grammar school's motto would have it (presaging a well-known sports shoe brand) - HOC AGE!