Grammar Schools (Hansard, 22 November 1983)

§ 6. Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent proposals he has received to establish grammar schools.

§ Sir Keith Joseph
The last statutory proposals to establish a new grammar school were published by Hereford and Worcester education authority on 29 January 1982.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
Does my right hon. Friend agree that grammar schools are a valuable bridge between the private and public sectors of education, and that their destruction has polarised education in Britain? Will he do all that he can to protect existing grammar schools and to encourage the setting up of new grammar schools in the public or the private sector?

§ Sir Keith Joseph
The grammar school has played, and is still playing, a distinguished part in the development of our schools system. Many people, including Opposition Members, were completely wrong to kick away the ladders that had benefited them before others could benefit from them also.

§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilson
Did my right hon. Friend see the results of the poll in The Guardian last week that compared the public perception of the achievements of grammar schools with those of comprehensive schools? In view of the obvious importance that the public appear to attach to the education provided by grammar schools, does it not suggest that if their perception of grammar schools is so high, while their perception of comprehensive schools is so low, there is a case for an independent inquiry into the lack of success of the comprehensive system?

§ Sir Keith Joseph
I understand my hon. Friend's view, but under the law the initiative for change lies with local education authorities. I can well imagine circumstances in which an education authority might consider that selection, and grammar schools as part of it, would benefit all children by enabling teachers to concentrate on stretching each broad band of ability separately. Although the initiative is with local education authorities, the holder of my office must decide the merits of each proposal, taking into account its effect on all concerned.

§ Ms. Clare Short
Does the Secretary of State agree that the major problem in secondary schools is that the bottom 40 per cent. of 16-year-olds feel like failures in those schools? He has already drawn attention to that problem. Will not the move to corral those children into failure schools entrench the problem even more deeply? Does he agree that that is a regressive step, and that the way forward is to develop a schools system that gives all our children a sense of achievement?

§ Sir Keith Joseph
As the hon. Lady knows, I agree with much of what she has said. However, the task of teaching a complete spectrum of ability in one class requires great skills on the part of the teachers, and it is just conceivable — I say no more — that the pupils to which the hon. Lady referred, in whom I am especially interested, might benefit from teaching that was stretched across a slightly narrower range of ability. The initiative is with the local education authorities. My duty is to consider each proposal on its merits.

§ Mr. Radice
Does the Secretary of State realise that, according to the same Gallup poll, a clear majority are against a return to selection? As we have seen at Solihull, and now at Richmond, there is little support, even among Conservative parents, for setting up new grammar schools. Will the Secretary of State tell his junior Minister to stop making weekend speeches to the party faithful knocking comprehensives, and to spend more time on what should be his ministerial duties — in the words of my hon. 154 Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Ms. Short)—in improving the quality of education for all our children?

§ Sir Keith Joseph
I shall say no such thing to my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary. I hope that the hon. Gentleman, who has an important potential for influencing public opinion, will concentrate, as the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Ms. Short) did, on the success of the delivery of education in all schools and keep an open mind on which type of school is best for which children. The holder of my office has that invidious job in the face of proposals and objections to those proposals.