The scale of private school dominance of top jobs in Britain is “morally indefensible”, states Gove

In a speech made to one of the country’s top performing co-educational private school (Brighton College), Michael Gove criticised the private school dominance of top jobs as ‘morally indefensible’. He said it was “remarkable” how many of the positions of wealth, influence, celebrity and power in Britain were held by former independent school pupils.

To support this view, Mr Gove referred to many famous names in the field of entertainment, such as, Hugh Laurie, Dominic West, Damian Lewis, Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Redmayne who were all old Etonians. He went further to state that former private school pupils dominated the media, too, with The Guardian being managed by privately educated men for the last 60 years.

“The sheer scale, the breadth and the depth of private school dominance of our society points to a deep problem in our country – one we all acknowledge but have still failed to tackle with anything like the radicalism required,” Mr Gove added.

Gove went further and stated that we live in an unequal society; ‘Those who are born poor are more likely to stay poor and those who inherit privilege are more likely to pass on privilege in England than in any comparable country’.

As a result Gove proposed that the recent coalition education reforms, such as changing schools into academies, would help close this gap. However his policies have consistently been criticised.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said the Government’s “flawed ideological policies” were “creating a lost generation of children and young people and plunging millions into poverty”.

Stephen Twigg, Labour’s education spokesman, added: “The worry is that progress could stall as a result of the Government’s approach. With school buildings in dire need of investment, support for a few satellite grammar schools and money being targeted on pet projects is not real need,-it is clear that the Government is not backing the vast majority of schools and pupils in England”.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/private-school-dominance-of-top-jobs-is-morally-indefensible-says-gove-7733437.html