C3
pupils depends, again distort both the content and style of teaching.
4.
unnecessary.
The proposals in the Green Paper to control primary school
entry are intended to benefit both kindergarten and primary education.
Together with the extensive qualitative improvements proposed for
the kindergarten sector these controls should result in the
erosion of competition for popular kindergarten places by making it
The Green Paper acknowledges the argument that the well-
established primary schools have achieved their excellent reputation
through energy and devotion to education, and that any attempt to control
entry to them would undermine the valuable traditions they have established
and could lead to all schools becoming mediocre. However, the Green Paper
also notes the argument that under the present system there are schools
with considerable potential whose teachers seldom see a bright pupil and
consequently become dispirited and ultimately less efficient.
Controlled
entry, it is believed, would ensure a better cross-section of pupils and
revitalise the schools. Though it would undoubtedly lead to wider ability
ranges it would eliminate the need for competitive tests for entry to
schools. The introduction of priority and discretionary elements in the
control system would make it possible to retain family and other traditional
links. On the question of the social structure of schools the Green Paper
points out that although individuals tend to have very strong views on
social mixing one way or the other there is little evidence to suggest
that educating together children of different backgrounds is harmful, and
indeed it could be considered the best possible way of providing education
in a world where rigid distinctions between classes are generally breaking
down. On the question of the effect of control of entry on the feeder
school system (described later) it is pointed out that this system is not
very satisfactory as it results in intense competition to enter a primary
school feeding a popular secondary school; however, the general concept
+
of a feeder system whereby children have an uninterrupted passage from
their primary school to a secondary school with similar methods