from A. Rooney , —_ SS Manchester Parents! Action ommi stributed by the Campaign for C ation, in an attempt to redress the known opposition of Pre co ame the platform to Manchester's - Gua talkie? the “Seck mares plans for comprehensive schools. We reprint
as The a inviting you to this meeting stated "We are quite sure and the abanct of the a ep th tern oid Setietines ranean “ : : © understand what i St ee vii children," This merely underlines ae vee one Sas Gt on as this, a balanced platform is needed to lend snopoken
pective to ALL the issues involved. We should therefore like to draw your attention to some im
ort ‘ quately, if at all, tonight, POrGananPORNTE. Mutoh Say -hecratecd tnatee
First, we shall be rid of the Eleven Plus i
» which in Manchester r
base of the cndidetes fail HOWEVER GOOD THEY ARE because there ph te year in Primary ee eee a ma — . “poe ee
rospect o S exam.
= would have passed will be spared the cruel process of ee ose who would not. The primary schools will no longer find it necessary to stream at 6 or 7 to prepare for the 11+, thus writing off the B and C streams. Our children mix before they are 11; then why separate them then?
Secondly, it is high time the present inequalities of facility and opportunity were ironed out. The innacurate and inefficient 11+ already places 30% of pupils in the wrong school anyways Manchester Grammar schools have 50 times as many science graduates per school as the moderns, and the tripartite system and single sex schools are but poor preparation for life as a responsible citizen in a democratic society.
There is every indication that standards of teaching, achievement and behaviour, far from deteriorating, actually improve with the introduction of comprehensive schools. The long established comprehensives which have puilt up their own sixth forms get 14% better results 4 A-level G.C.E. than do LEA. grammar schools. Grammar school education, far from disappearing, will be available to everyone for as long as it is wanted.
Finally, a mixture of grammars and comprehensives would retain the old inequalities, as the grammars would cream off the academically inclined. This problem is not confined to Manchester: it is 4 national ones Our ed= ucational system is inadequate for the kind of society and the kind cf citizen we want in the future, and improvements will not be effected by muddl~ ing through with its social injustices and hotch-potch tripartite organisatjon. Not one of the benefits we want will be achieved without such important structural changes and reorganisation 4s embodied in the Manchester plane
Let us, then, not be negative, with claims of administrative aifficulties, cost, and bad timing. Such claims are groundless. It is clear that after a year of work, the present Manchester plan 1s practical, cheap and, in the interests of social justice, needs to be carried out as soon as pos= sible. We have the chance to make Manchester @ proud name in the history of educational reform - for our childrert s sake, let us take it.