Open up private schools says Lib Dem

Call for schools like Eton to be opened up

The government should put money into independent schools to open them up to poorer children, a Liberal Democrat MEP has said.

Nick Clegg made the call after comparing England's education system with that of other countries in continental Europe.

He worked on the study with Richard Grayson, who wrote the Liberal Democrats' last general election manifesto.

They visited schools in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands and studied the education systems of France, Germany and Spain.

They say they found the English system to be over-centralised and "marked by pronounced inequalities".

"Highly contentious and no neat answers" says Nick Clegg

Mr Clegg said: "You can't fail to observe that there is no other country in Europe that has such a large fee-paying sector.

"We don't think fee-paying schools should be abolished, as they were in Sweden, but recognise they are a valuable resource which more children should have access to."

He advocates following the Danish route, where the government provides some of the funding for such schools, which can then charge lower fees.

"We know it's not on here at the moment, because of the expense and we know it's highly contentious, but there are no neat answers," he said.

Assisted places

At the last general election, the Conservatives advocated giving parents £3,000 towards a place at a private school for their child, with the shortfall being met by an independent schools bursary or a business scholarship.

The independent schools themselves - represented by the Independent Schools Council - have also called for government money to be used to allow poorer children to go to private schools.

Labour is phasing out the assisted places scheme, which offered bursaries for bright pupils from low-income backgrounds to go to a private school.

In a pamphlet called "Learning from Europe" - Nick Clegg and Richard Grayson identify other ways of equalising opportunity.

Local taxes

They say schools in disadvantaged areas or places where there are ethnic minority groups should be given more money per pupil, leading to smaller classes and better results.

The study concludes that the Danish, Swedish and Dutch systems lead to a narrower gap between the educational achievements of rich and poor.

The same countries, it says, spend more per pupil and have more local control in schools.

Nick Clegg also said decentralising education would make people more willing to pay for their local schools, especially if the extra tax was levied locally rather than nationally.