A re-run of 11-plus is a mistake
AS DEBATE nears, it’s proving increasingly difficult to keep up with the machinations of the imminent discussion on States funding of the colleges.
Most notable of all the proposals raised so far has to be a bid from Deputy John Dyke to restore a means-tested system of bursaries for the island’s most able children. To all extents and purposes, a restoration of the 11-plus without the exams.
While that will clearly hold some appeal for some, it’s an approach which is surely doomed to failure.
On the plus side, it effectively would restore the original impact of selection – to enable those less able due to their financial circumstances, through no fault of their own, to be able to secure a better, aspirational education. And it would mean that a defined benefit was paid to the colleges for an understood purpose, not a vague one.
The means-tested element would circumvent the ‘coaching’ that devalued and ultimately derailed the 11-plus.
However, a vote in support would be sending the clock back a decade or more, and also send out an awful message for the Education Committee, as it seeks to drive up standards and promote excellence and equality for all, by carving out the best-performing children and taking them out of the system. It’s possible to promote choice in secondary education, but not by restoring selection by the back door.