Confession: I went to private school...
Last week, whilst ill, I was watching This Morning , and an old issue was reignited. The debate was titled ‘Is it wrong to pay for your child’s education?’ Immediately, that title blurs what is, in fact, a logical argument: what are the differences/benefits of private vs state schools? Instead, it turns the act of sending your child to private school into something malicious, and a calculated way to ensure your child tricks society into letting it achieve greatness in life. There are, of course, huge gaps between certain private and certain state schools, in terms of employment figures, grades achieved, and class sizes. Let’s not forget, though, that there are also huge differences between the schools within each category. Some state schools sit happily at the top of league tables, and plenty of people whose parents pay for their education slip through the net, drop out at 16, and spend their lives working in dead end jobs, or not working at all. The state/private debate is certainly...