Different schools but the same life chances
WE DON’T agree that private school education pays huge benefits (Mail). The most recent statistics from the Department of Education state there are 3.3 million pupils in state schools and 580,000 in private schools. The research that claimed fee-paying pupils score two grades higher at A-level than state students was based on a small sample of 5,800 pupils ten years ago. The figures didn’t appear to take into account that many state school pupils leave at 16, so there would be a naturally increasing gap. We are MSc students in media, communications and international journalism at the University of Glasgow, but come from very different educational backgrounds. Lyle was educated privately at one of Scotland’s leading independent schools. He loved school and feels grateful to have been blessed with such a positive educational experience. Rebecca attended a state school in a less affluent area. She worked hard and achieved five A grades at A-level before going on to university. We do not deny there are better resources and a more favourable staff-to-pupil ratio in private schools, but simply paying to attend a ‘better’ school does not make you smarter. The incentive to learn, and natural academic talent, contribute a great deal. To say that Lyle was advantaged over Rebecca is unfair — we both worked hard and are now in the same position, on the same programme, at the same university. Generalisations about state and private education based solely on finances will only continue to add fuel to the fire. The ‘vastly superior’ resources may well be there in private education, but surely how the pupils choose to utilise them is imperative. REBECCA NEWLANDS & LYLE McADAM, Glasgow.