The Pledge's June Sarpong: Why it's time to scrap private schools
The UK needs to abandon its private school system to level the playing field for our children, so says The Pledge panellist.
Thursday 31 May 2018 07:27, UK
Oxford University has come under fire over its latest admissions statistics, which revealed just 11% of new undergraduates came from disadvantaged backgrounds.
But according to The Pledge's June Sarpong, there is a wider issue at play - and it is time to scrap the UK's two-tier education system.
Last week, Oxford University released its latest admissions statistics.
Although there had been an increase on the previous rates of BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) and state school intake, still it was nowhere near enough.
In the case of some Oxford colleges, the numbers were in single digits.
Once again, Labour MP David Lammy was on the attack and publicly criticised Oxford on Twitter.
As someone who is helping the university with its diversity drive, I welcome Mr Lammy's criticisms as an open and honest debate is how we move things forward.
However, I think Mr Lammy is missing the wider issue of our two-tier education system - and the fact that in Britain, unfortunately you get the education your parents can afford to pay for.
Our lack of equal opportunity and social mobility starts a lot earlier down the line.
First, we divide our children by class, allowing parents of a higher social class to purchase a ticket on the fast train to affluence via privately funded schools stopping at any Russell Group university.
For parents who can't afford to buy a home in the catchment area of a good state school, their kids muddle through an overstretched and underfunded comprehensive system, where only the most exceptional students from working class and BAME backgrounds are able to get a seat at the table of top jobs.
Once they arrive, they would be surrounded by privately educated counterparts who will not have had to struggle to gain the same degree.
I think it's time to put an end to our private school system all together.
We need our schools to be a microcosm of society and where are children learn to get along with the rest of society.
If all kids are in the same schools then there will cease to be an exclusive pipeline from private schools into Russell Group universities and that's how we begin to level the playing field.
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