SOME years ago, I recall the topic of grammar schools being debated on BBC 1’s Question Time.
After the five guest panellists had denigrated them to varying degrees, host David Dimbleby asked what schooling they’d all had.
All five had been to grammar school.
The hypocrisy was rank.
Why should some be allowed to succeed, and they all had, while others with the potential to do so cannot?
It’s ironic that, every day, television footage from the Rio Olympics highlights the achievements of men and women who have been encouraged to excel from an early age.
Somehow, in sport, physical superiority is acceptable, while admitting that some children are more able intellectually than others is not.
The consequence has been a one-size-fits-all comprehensive system that all too often does not recognise and nurture the innate ability some are born with.
For years, potential highfliers have had the option of a private education if it was affordable, or a grammar school if they live near one.
Now, with the Government’s Academy and Foundation schools, parents’ and children’s aspirations are being increasingly met, with outstanding results comparing well with some private schools.
The final ingredient in this mix must surely be a revived, grammar level education, widely available across the country.
This would end ‘grammar hotspots’, where housing in these catchment areas becomes prohibitively expensive, keeping out the very pupils they could help most.
At the same time, it’s important to ensure there’s a wide variety of technical and vocational skills on offer for those whose gifts lie outside academia.
It’s no coincidence that the current Prime Minister and many of her Cabinet and advisers were grammar educated, as was Margaret Thatcher.
It’s high time we let those with the ability achieve their potential.
It’s in the country’s best interest.