education (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)
This is an interesting article from the Telegraph. I would rate it as RECOMMENDED READING. Check it out!
via Private schools are blocking social mobility – Telegraph.
As a product of state education, I have long been interested in this subject. Many of my state-educated contemporaries have been remarkably successful in their respective lives; this is based on drive, energy and personal risk-taking.
During my corporate career, I observed that many of the most successful and driven people were from very ordinary backgrounds; they had either got to university based on their ability or often were educated in the “school of hard-knocks”.
By comparison, I often felt that people educated privately were frequently uncomfortable in dealing with ordinary people; their privileged backgrounds were a burden.
Unfortunately, my reflections should have one important caveat, I am a post-war, baby-boomer, born in 1948, and when I was growing up in the sixties, social mobility was real. Hard-work and focus could take an ambitious person far.
Sadly, in 2013, with record high youth unemployment in many countries thanks to policies of excessive austerity, privilege is all important, in my view. Privilege guarantees superior education, regardless of ability, and doors still seem to open miraculously for career opportunities.
Let me turn this to an open question:
Do you think that private schools are blocking social mobility?
Any thoughts?
Related articles
Dr Alf's Blog 