大象传媒

This is a tricky subject for me, as I went to a grammar school and certainly benefited from the education I received. I was the first person on my mother鈥檚 side of the family to go to university, so my time spent at school was certainly fruitful.

However, if you were to ask me if it is a fair system, I would have to say no. How can a system that supposedly favours the brightest ten percent of children, ever be fair?

I wasn鈥檛 tutored to pass the 11 plus but I do remember doing a practice paper every night in the months coming up to the exams. I was excited about the prospect of going to a grammar school and wanted to do well.

At age 11, you are branded a 'failure' or a 'success'

I was really excited when I learnt I had 鈥榩assed鈥� but when it transpired that most of my fellow pupils had 鈥榝ailed鈥� the last few weeks at school were strained and I wasn鈥檛 so popular with my peers.

And I think this is the main problem. 听At age 11, 听you are branded a 鈥榝ailure鈥� or a 鈥榮uccess鈥�. 听Despite our school saying that it was just a selection process we all knew it was 鈥榩ass鈥� or 鈥榝ail鈥�. Children learn at different rates and some children who don鈥檛 pass the 11 plus are incredibly bright.

Being deemed a failure at age 11 cannot be good for a child鈥檚 confidence and it also means that you are destined to go to a school that is not as good as a grammar school.

Equally children who are tutored for years听to get into a grammar school may also find that they struggle once they start there.

The whole idea that a bright child from a less privileged background can get a good education through the grammar system is flawed. The wealthy middle classes tutor their children to ensure that 听they get into the best grammar schools, meaning that a poorer bright child who can鈥檛 afford tuition, could lose out on a place.

In this 听at the beginning of the year, Peter Mortimore, a former director of the Institute of Education, says that grammar schools are fundamentally unfair:

鈥溾�opular with parents who can afford years of coaching for their children's entrance tests, it underpins a hierarchy of status, promotes snobbery and prevents many schools from gaining a fair share of able pupils. Surely it should have no place in a country wrestling with so many other inequalities?鈥�

He suggests that we capitalize on the success of grammar schools, rather than getting rid of them altogether and turn them into centres of A-level excellence - a sixth form college that can benefit all pupils in the education system.

Interestingly, it is not just grammar schools that are failing disadvantaged children. Top comprehensive schools take even less children from deprived income homes than grammar schools, according to a earlier this year.听

The report argues that selection by ballot is the only fair way to allocate places to children, but this is not popular with parents or politicians. Most areas that have grammar schools value them highly. I think it may be some time before they are completely abolished. But it is also sad that in the 21st century, a child鈥檚 educational chances can still be diminished by their economic background.

Claire Winter is a member of the 大象传媒 Parent Panel.

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