Tories pledge to tackle educational inequality
Sue Learner
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Conservatives have called the educational inequality in England "shocking" after new data revealed there are pockets of the country where only a tiny minority of children achieve five good GCSEs by the age of sixteen.
Statistics for 2007 GCSE results in maintained schools show that only three per cent of children in an area of Bradford are achieving five GCSE grades A* to C, compared with 100 per cent in an area of Richmond upon Thames.
Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "These figures show yet again that children born in deprived areas get nothing like the opportunities of those born elsewhere. It is vital that we reverse this block on aspiration. That is why our first priority in schools will be to tackle the gap in performance between rich and poor.
"Our plans for state-funded independent schools, based on the successful Swedish model, could make a real difference to the life chances of children, particularly in the poorest areas."
http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/datasetList.do;jsessionid=ac1f930dce619d4fd576b7f40c1af2cc431d9b78eba?JSAllowed=true&ph=60&CurrentPageId=60&step=1&datasetFamilyId=1656&Next.x=1&Next.y=1&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1259
