ABSTRACT
The other problem is that the high spend of private schools does not all go on a kamikaze rush for high grades. Oh, they want them all right they lust for them, they coach and coax and police the coursework deadlines. But that isn’t all they spend it on. There are other things which are unfairly lavished on private-school children while being denied to their state-funded counterparts. Things like music lessons, with plenty of instruments available, well-stocked libraries and laboratories, quiet chapels, playing fields, swimming pools, grass, fresh air, and pleasant classrooms in decent architecture with most of the paint still adhering to the walls. There are small classes led by teachers who stay a long time, are not driven demented by paperwork, and have a reasonable chance of knowing everybody’s name. There are abundant school trips. There is individual help. There is also – in the less fiercely selective schools – often a better chance of chivvying the duller and more obstreperous pupils into some success.
