Equality v. Opportunity

The traditional view of education has been that every child should go to their local school and there receive at least a core 'education' of the same standard as every other child.



That view implies that children go to school to be taught. It does not reflect the human reality that, even with the same stimulus, individuals react differently. To maximise learning even the core curriculum must be adapted to the needs of the individual. The higher the level of learning and the older the child the more important the personalisation becomes.



So the choice of the right school, particularly at secondary level, must be important to parents and their children even if they agree the broad standards are correct. This choice has to be made within the realities of local geography and the constraints of human organisations.



There seems to be increasing evidence that the ideal size of a secondary school is 600-900 pupils. That was the conclusion of a University of Michigan study in 1996



The present policies of encouraging freedom of choice by incentivising popular schools to grow is not a sustainable policy. Bigger units may bring down the cost per student and allow for more specialisation but the learning environment and personal identity that are crucial to the best schools may be lost in the larger organisation.