ABSTRACT
Even the devotional manuals of the ‘deschoolers’ — if Ivan Illich’s writings can be so designated — identify the bureaucratization of the existing system of maintained schools as being a cause of much of this malaise. It is argued that such a school system, supported by rates and organized by local education authorities is unlikely to respond diligently to the stated needs of its customers, the parents, because of its entrenched position. State schools would charge cost-covering fees, and after that, would compete with private schools on equal terms. Parents could supplement the voucher out of their own pockets as much as they liked at private schools that might charge fees above the standard levels. The competition between schools to be ‘chosen’ through ‘vouchers’ offers a possibility of raising standards of education in that striving for excellence would be at a premium.
