Grammar, Technical and Secondary Modern Schools

Grammar schools provide a mainly academic course for selected pupils from the age of 11 to 18 or 19. Many grammar schools were founded in the Middle Ages and are mostly single-sex schools. Only those children who have the best results are admitted to these schools. In comparison with other maintained schools grammar schools have better buildings, smaller classes, more highly qualified teachers, and often better playing-fields and sport facilities. They give pupils a much higher level of academic instruction, which can lead to the university. The curriculum includes English Language, Eng­lish Literature, modern languages, Latin, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, History, Geography and other subjects.

Technical schools appeared in England at the beginning of this century. They offer a general education with a technical bias and serve those pupils who are more mechanically inclined. Their curricula feature more Scienceand Mathematics. These schools were planned as academic equals to grammar schools but specialized in technical subjects. In fact the standing of the technical school is often lower than that of the grammar school. Children with slightly lower marks are often admitted. There are very few schools of this type in England and Wales.

Secondary modern schools were formed in England in 1944 to provide a non-academic, education up to the minimum school-leaving age of 16 for children of lesser attainment. The curriculum includes Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, some elementary History and Geography, and more practical subjects than are included in the grammar school curriculum (cooking, needlework, shorthand, typing, woodwork, metalwork, gardening). In fact this kind of education is secondary only in name. A great majority of secondary modern school pupils leave school half-educated.

The selection of children at the age of 11 deprives many talented young people of true educational opportunities. It is believed that intelligence tests measure children's inborn abilities. Yet, the pupils have been prepared for these tests either by their parents or by private teachers. Private coaching is known to produce good results, but the fees are high and accessible only to rich parents. Working-class families can hardly manage them. As a result only a small part of working-class children are admitted to grammar schools.

The selection procedure at the age of 11 aroused a lot of criticism on the part of progressive people in the country. The necessity to organize a school that would accept all the children from a particular area without consideration of their inborn ability or aptitude became urgent in England and Wales. The first schools of this kind, the so-called comprehensive schools began to appear after World War II. These are mainly mixed schools which can provide education for over 1,000 pupils. A much wider range of subjects is offered here than in smaller schools. Ideally they provide all the courses given in grammar, technical and secondary modern schools. The main educational advantages of comprehensive schools are: 1) they are open to all children of all types of ability from a particular area; 2) they are mixed schools; 3) the future of a child is not decided by the results of a selection procedure at the age of 11 and the final choice of a course can be made at a later age; 4) a much wider range of subjects is possible; 5) if necessary, a pupil can change from one course to another without moving to another school; 6) though streaming is preserved, in some comprehensive schools it is modified and made more flexible and some schools do not stream their pupils.