Wednesday, DLT2 – 6pm
Another week, another debate. So far we have covered the topics of politics (in our BNP debate) and crime (in our drugs debate), this week we turn our attentions to probably the most contentious issues in British society: class and education. The debate will be in DLT2 this week at 6pm following a skills talk on ‘Developing a Mean Streak’, we think you are all far too polite to each other! Remember if you want to speak get in touch and we can guarantee you a speaker spot.
Having never participated in a debate like this myself, I’m particularly looking forward to seeing how this will play out. As always, a lot will depend on the definition. The first speaker will need to explain how they will turn this theory into action. Will it simply be a case of government setting an example and supporting state education? Will it be a withdrawl of all state-support for private institutions or will it be a complete abolition of the private system? Although a lot of the content will depend on the route taken by the first proposition, there will still be a number of central themes.
The proposition will want to demonstrate how private schools perpetuate inequality socio-economically, a major problem in the UK. It is a matter of fact that the higher up the University league tables you go, the higher the % private and public school (remember in the UK ‘public’ is another form of privately funded education) entrants. That the continued financial support of the state towards private education only slows the progression the state-education sector are making in terms of academic education. They will also want to explain how state schools produce a better education in terms of life experience and ‘soft skills’, that academic excellence is not the sole aim of the education system, it is one component in a much larger educational process.
Meanwhile, the opposition will want to refute these claims. They will want to say that schools in the Private Sector provide a brilliant education that can only be achieved through private means. Only an irresponsible parent would ignore the opportunities a private school offer and in a capitalist system it is down to the individual to decide how they would spend their money. They will also want to show that rather than perpetuate the problems in the state sector, the provision of a private education actually alleviates the problem. By reducing the number of students in this system, the financial burden on the government to fulfill its commitment to universal education its reduced.
Here are some links to aid you with your research:
http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=31 a more comprehensive summary of the issues
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/04/davidcameron.education an argument for
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/oct/06/private-schools-stigmatised-chief-says some reasons against
