08.02.1996

Old school ties

The row over which school Harriet Harman’s son goes to seems at first an irrelevance. The Harman question is another example of Labour Party double-speak, but it also raises serious questions about the type of schools we need.

In Scotland this week, local councils made their contribution to the great education debate by announcing their proposed school closures. On Monday, angry Dundee parents protested outside the education committee meeting. One of the parents told me: “I was standing outside the school today. I am sure they’ve already sold it off and I was actually standing in what would be a new Tesco’s car park.”

John Kemp, Dundee education convenor, glibly told worried parents not be concerned about school mergers, but “look on the bright side: at least kids will get to design their new school ties.”

School buildings should not be sacred cows. Those which are dilapidated beyond renovation should close. However, the Labour councils are proposing these closures, not on the basis of any educational philosophy, but to fund the shortfall in their budgets. All so-called consultation exercises are a sham. Unless there is a massive and militant fightback by local communities, then the council decisions will stick.

The real debate on education has not even started. Funding, personnel and time to re-evaluate the curriculum is necessary if we are to break from the elitist two-tier system that exists. Years of cuts and struggle have narrowed our vision as to how education can go from being a force for reaction and preservation of the status quo to being a force for change and revolution, as minds of all ages are unshackled.

The abolition of all private schools must go hand in hand with transforming all state schools into centres of excellence where pupils are no longer processed for 11 or more years, but receive a curriculum which stretches each individual to his or her full potential. Then Harriet Harman will truly be irrelevant.

Nancy Morelli