The NEU’s Ken Muller at a rally this week

• IN response to being asked for his views on Islington National Education Union’s call in the January 27 Tribune for falling school rolls in the borough to be used as an opportunity to improve education by having smaller class sizes, the Islington Council press officer quoted in the article responded: “On its own, class size is not a reliable measure of the quality of education; the reality is more nuanced”, (Radical plan to tackle half-empty schools crisis).

In which case, why do many rich parents – including a lot of Tory government ministers – pay to send their children to private schools, state-subsidised through their charitable status, like Eton College where the staff-pupil ratio is one:eight?

According to Premium Europe (“Your gateway to luxury Europe”) which helps “you select the best boarding school for your child on a data-driven basis,” there is very little nuance to it.

A quick search of its website tells us: “One of the main reasons that private schools remain so attractive to parents is the high teacher-to-pupil ratios that they offer”.

It goes on: “The benefits of a high ratio include more one-to-one contact time between teachers and pupils: since teachers get to know students very well, they can tailor their lessons to an individual’s strengths and weaknesses”.

So the question Islington Council should be asking itself is: if it’s good enough for rich people’s kids why isn’t it good enough for less-privileged children in Islington?

Instead of complying with Tory government diktats, merging schools, selling off their buildings and sharing staff, the council should be standing up for local children and their parents and joining the NEU and other school staff trade unions in fighting for the funding necessary to “level down” our class sizes to those existing at so-called independent schools.

KEN MULLER
Press Officer
Islington NEU