Education System Problems

An interesting little insight into the problems in the education system here:

Half of state school teachers would never or only rarely encourage their brightest pupils to apply to Oxbridge, according to research published today.

If those charged with preparing youths for higher education won't urge them to aim for the top, well, yes, that is something of a problem, don't you think?

And while 54 per cent said that they always or usually encouraged gifted children to apply to Cambridge or Oxford, 25 per cent said that they would rarely do so, and 20 per cent would never suggest this to pupils.

Two errors of fact are recorded: teachers not understanding that 54% of Oxbridge entrants are indeed from the State sector and that Oxbridge is no more expensive (indeed, with bursaries, often cheaper) than other universities.

However, I do have a sneaking suspicion that there's something else at work here. The idea that such grand ambitions are not for the likes of their pupils.

What we might call the soft bigotry of low expectations.