I thought Colin Clark introduced an interesting observation about British education by putting it into the international context of OECD statistics "11-plus tested academic ability not intelligence" (July 26).
It reminded us that if Britain is to play its full part intellectually and commercially in the wider world, it has to have a world class education system.
When I wrote previously of the 11-plus exam, as it was generally described, as a test of intelligence that also included the ability to write a composition and answer questions in clear and correct English, as well as testing IQ and arithmetical calculation.
As he asks for "sweeping statements" examples in his letter, I suggest: 1 Under any system the cream will always get to the top; 2 Britain's academic prowess has degenerated since the School Cert's demise; 3 Young people are not so skilled in maths and reading as their grandparents (obviously not derived from OECD statistics, as it wasn't founded until 1981); 4 As a country (GB) once renowned for its common sense ... mediocrity is the new benchmark; 5 Too much attention is given to 'under-achievers' and too little for high-fliers; 6 "Do-gooders" are leading us in the wrong direction.
My own views derive from having taught in a new and good Kent secondary modern school, followed by a comprehensive in the early 1960s and maintaining an interest in educational matters since.While teaching at the secondary modern school, I felt the sense of shell-shock and disbelief by new pupils aware they had been branded "failures".
I'd also known families devastated where one child had "passed" and another had "failed" and the jealousies arising over the exam within our locality during my East London childhood.
At the new, purpose-built comprehensive school in Coventry's outskirts I felt a palpable sense of common purpose, led by an inspirational headmaster. Every pupil was treated appropriately according to their academic strengths or weaknesses in specific subjects.
This, I concluded, was the way forward for British education. After all, streaming is customary in primary schools, apart from special-needs education, so why does it have to be in separate establishments in secondary ones? Could this be more to do with exclusivity and snobbery rather than educational imperatives?
State grammar schools ceased to exist 50 years ago and are unlikely to return in the foreseeable future.
The current debate is whether comprehensives should be state or privately run. I would commend anyone interested in this to the Times Magazine's powerful July 26 article concerning the transition of the failing Swan Valley Community School in a deprived area of north Kent into what appears to be a rapidly improving Ebbsfleet Academy.
It is worlds away from my comprehensive experience and certainly challenges the views of anyone, whichever side of the educational divide they position themselves.
