Britain's “segregated” education system is holding back the nation, Michael Gove warned today.
The Education Secretary stressed talent was being wasted on an “unforgivable scale” by the failure to get more children from deprived backgrounds into top universities.
Writing in The New Statesman magazine, he said: “We have one of the most stratified and segregated education systems in the developed world, perpetuating inequality and holding our nation back.
“When a few public schools can scoop up more places at our top universities than the
entire population of boys and girls eligible for free school meals, we are clearly wasting
talent on an unforgivable scale.”
But the Cabinet minister, who was educated in both independent and state schools, emphasised that the answer was not to “abolish, punish or undermine excellent educational institutions”.
Instead, the aim should be to “spread their benefits without diluting their character” and to break down the “Berlin Wall” between state and private schools.
“That is why last week I outlined plans to help state schools poach great teachers from
private schools, use the rigorous exams and curricula hitherto restricted to the private
sector and move to a longer day, in line with public school practice, to make it easier to
offer superb extracurricular activities,” he said.
He predicted that Eton-educated David Cameron could be the Prime Minister who “presides over the end of the exclusivity of the public school system and making English education
truly democratic”.
The outspoken Cabinet minister added: “From the England cricket team to the comment pages
of the Guardian, the Baftas to the BBC, the privately educated – and wealthy – dominate.
“We are still very far from living in the meritocratic society I believe is a moral imperative.”
