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Oliver Letwin/Lilian Baylis

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

The Scotsman

Fri 10 Oct 2003

Letwin: I'd rather beg than have to use state school

JOHN INNES

THE Eton-educated Oliver Letwin has declared that he would "go out on the streets and beg" to avoid sending his children to a local inner-city comprehensive.

The shadow home secretary said he would consider sending his children to state schools in his Dorset constituency.

But he would "give my right arm" to go private in the London borough of Lambeth, where he lives during the week, rather than send them to the comprehensive nearest his home in Kennington, the Evening Standard reported. The school in question is believed to be Lilian Baylis School in Kennington. Yesterday, the headteacher, Gary Phillips, said pupils and parents would be upset by Mr Letwin’s remarks.

At a fringe meeting at the conference, Mr Letwin reportedly said he was trying to get his daughter, Laura, ten, into a "particular public school in London" as he wanted to see his family during the week.

"Miraculously, the middle-class parents with the money end up getting their children into good schools," he continued. "In Lambeth, where I live, I would give my right arm to send them to a fee-paying school. If necessary I would go out on the streets and beg rather than send them to the school next to where I live.

"What about the other parents in Lambeth who are forced to use the state schools because they don’t have the money? We need to give them the choice as well."

This week saw the Tories promise a voucher scheme for education, which would enable parents to have the government put the amount of money it spends on each state-school pupil towards private sector fees.

Speaking after Mr Letwin’s comments, Mr Phillips said: "It is very upsetting for both children and parents to be told that their school is no good when they know full well that it is.

"We are fully aware that the school’s exam results are lower than the national average, but as a result of the government’s value-added scheme, which takes other factors - like whether children actually speak English when they arrive - Lilian Baylis is registered as one of the top 100 schools in the country by the Department for Education and Skills.

"I would be much more willing to accept Mr Letwin’s comments if he had ever actually been to the school."

This article:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=1119772003

(posted 7475 days ago)

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