Wednesday 12 March 2008

Did yesterday's ministerial statement influence evidence given to Commons Select Committee?

I have just read a report of todays meeting of the House of Commons Select Committee for the DCSF on the Education Guardian website http://education.guardian.co.uk/admissions/story/0,,2264410,00.html.
An extract from the Guardian report makes reference to yesterday's statement by Ed Balls, Secretary of State at DCSF:

"Yesterday, the schools secretary, Ed Balls, admitted that "significant" numbers of schools were flouting admission rules, with some charging parents hundreds of pounds of secure places for their children and requesting details about marital status and family incomes. Balls said these breaches were found disproportionately in faith schools [Ed Balls did not refer to the religious character of these schools - see my post of yesterday] and in others that controlled their own admissions. Earlier, academics told the committee that they were not surprised to discover that some schools were abusing the rules to secure a secondary school place of their choice for their child."


Even recognising that this is an incomplete account of a full mornings evidence, it seems to be clear that yesterday's ministerial statement has had an influence on the way in which evidence was given before the Select Committee.

2 comments:

Joe said...

A post at John Smeaton's site, also covered at Fr Tim's hermeneutic of continuity and Fr Ray's St Mary Magdalen, indicates the Bishop O'Donoghue stood up well for things Catholic.

Kate said...

I think you are right, Ed Balls and co., are clearly looking for ways to force Catholic schools to toe their line.I have some doubts about the capacity of Catholic Education to survive the onslaught of the secularists.I hope I am mistaken, but if not,committed Catholic parents face two choices: either to home educate their children (it can be done), or to send their children to the local state school and explain to them that they will not receive any help from the school to develop their faith, and assure the children that their parents will take on this responsibility. And then to do it!
Of course those who are in a position to afford independent education, have a third option, and good luck to them.