Excellence before egalitarianism
June 20th, 1969
A letter to the Reading Chronicle which was published on 20th June 1969.
In his attack on the grammar schools and the 11-plus examination reported in last Friday’s issue, Mr John Lee stands revealed in his true colours as an opponent of academic excellence of any kind. In saying that grammar schools perpetuate the feeling that technological studies are of less importance than others, Mr Lee merely shows that on this subject, as on so many others, he does not know what he is talking about.
In attacking the 11-plus in the terms he did, he demonstrated his belief that every educational standard should be subordinated to a dull levelling egalitarianism; if there is an examination which some people cannot pass, away with it; if there is an institution demonstrably better than some others, abolish it.
Mr Lee and others like him should realise that every attempt they make to salve the pride of the lazy and mediocre, helps to destroy the spirit of ambition to excel which exists in all classes of people and without which this country simply will not survive.
The grammar schools have in fact rendered an immense service to our country by fostering the highest academic standards among millions of children whose homes rarely saw a book. It must now be apparent to many readers that as a country we can only go on importing raw materials, performing a service on them, and selling the finished articles abroad, if we are considerably cleverer in many fields than our competitors.
Painful as it is to Socialist ideology, and valuable as everybody’s contribution is, this essential extra cleverness can be provided only by a minority of gifted children educated to the limit of their capacity. Whether comprehensive schools can provide this education has yet to be demonstrated; that our present selective educational system has done this in the past and continues to do so now can be seen by reference, for example, to the number and quality of scientific papers produced, which like the number of Nobel prizes gained are out of all proportion to the population of the country.
I am entirely convinced that there is a need for experiment in the education of children of all classes of ability. But it should be motivated by a quest for the highest standards of excellence, not by a desire to impose egalitarianism for its own sake and at all costs.