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How socially inclusive are Academies? |
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Written by Austin Mitchell
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17 November 2005 |
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No one would accuse Education Minister, Jacqui Smith, of terminological inexactitudes in her letter to the Guardian to refute Matthew Taylor’s claim that Academies are less socially inclusive because they’re admitting fewer free school meals pupils than their predecessors. But to claim that the schools were both admitting more pupils and becoming more comprehensive was a New Labour truth.
Re-analyse her figures and they show that Free Dindies were 8.3% of the old intake but only 6.5% of the increase in intake. This brings the total proportion down. Only by 0.3%, but the exact opposite of Jacqui’s claim.
She also failed to deal with the Guardian claim that in 8 of the 14 schools the proportion of poorer children had gone down substantially. What gives the game away is her assertion that the Academies aren’t selecting the pupils, the parents are selecting the school.
Which is exactly the point in this new system of pushy parents rule O.K. Choice favours the middle-classes and that’s the unspoken reason for the claim that Academies will improve schools because the middle-class will be more anxious to send their kids there, but this has consequences for the other schools in the area. Particularly Havelock and Hereford in Grimsby. |
