Tory by-election candidate on state education....

[seeker]

......sorry it's the Daily Mirror, but so far it's that or the Huffington Post! At least they are showing their true colours......
Here

What true colours? The full quote in the third paragraph shows that she did not say what the headline or the first paragraph claim. All she is saying, rightly or wrongly, is that she doesn't think the local schools are good enough. And what about all the politicians from Labour and the LibDems who think a state education is not good enough for their child?

Well, my local outstanding comp has never sent a child to read Medicine at university.

What, this full quotation? "She said: ?William is very gifted which gives us another interesting challenge in finding the right sort of education for him ? impossible in the state system. He wants to be a cardio-respiratory surgeon.?

Nobody. But Nobody has ever said that their child can't be a surgeon if they go to a state school.

Well DD1 goes to a state school and they send around 20 to read medicine each year. Even DD2's "notorious" comp sends kids to read medicine most years.

One of the comments below the article says that the Lib Dem candidates daughter is reading medicine and she went to a state school.

The local schools in Eastleigh are very good indeed - Wildern and Thornden in particular. A comment like the one she made indicates that she has not even bothered to look at them.

Looks like she'd be Marmite on MN:

"She is also obsessed with breastfeeding (?I fed each of my four children for two years?), educational provision for children with learning difficulties (two of her children have special needs) and first came into the public eye when she handbagged Tony Blair on live television during the 2005 election campaign about those provisions".

Thrilled to see that her website (vote4maria) has misplaced apostrophes in it. Silly cow.

Yes, that is the quote. She says her son is gifted and that it is impossible to find the right sort of education for him in the state system. She then goes on to say he wants to be a surgeon. She does not connect the two comments. She does not say it is impossible for him to become a surgeon if he goes to state school. That is the interpretation of the Daily Mirror, not known for their objective approach to Tory politicians. Interestingly the journalist who carried out the original interview from which this quote is drawn did not interpret the comments in the same way, although that journalist works for the Daily Mail and could therefore also be regarded as biassed. For all we know the actual interview may have gone:

Hutchings: William is very gifted, which gives us another interesting challenge in finding the right sort of education for him ? impossible in the state system.

Interviewrer: What does he want to be when he grows up?

Hutchings: A cardio-respiratory surgeon.

And as Tiggytape says, politicians of all colours have said some pretty extreme things about the state system to justify sending their own children to independent schools.

For what it is worth, Maria Hutchings used to be an active member of the Labour party.

It is precisely her assumption that it is impossible to find suitable provision for a gifted child in the state system that I take issue with.

So it's OK to say it's impossible to find education for a gifted child in the state system?????

But well tried, prb!!!!!!!

This really comes down to whether you believe attendance at an independent school confers educational advantage, so that admission to medicine, Oxbridge, vet med etc, is more likely. I think the Sutton Trust (whose objective is to increase social mobility through education) has found this to be the case.

Seeker - you seem to have struggled to find the right sort of education for your child.

I'm interested in how John O'F got his new school, and why!

Stupid bloody woman.

www.suttontrust.com/research/the-educational-backgrounds-of-the-nations-leading-people/leading-people-report.pdf

Is she even in catchment for the outstanding schools she has supposedly rejected?

The fact is that if you have the money you can find a suitable school for your child.

If you do not, then one may or may not be available in the state sector. Very often not.

I am not saying it is ok to say that. However, as Tiggy says, politicians of all parties have made similar statements. And I'm sure she isn't the only mother who thinks the local state schools aren't good enough.

For goodness sake.

Is this country so PC these days that you can't say "I think my local state school can't offer me what I want for my child" without being demonized by pro-state school fanatics???

With Diane Abbott, I can actually understand what she means. The majority of people on MN are white, I guess...

Tasmania- but that is not what she said. Why not comment on her actual words, not on something completely different!

I read this yesterday, and have been hunting since to find out if the excellent comprehensives in her area are actually in her sons catchment. I initially thought she had been mis quoted, either way it is a damaging article For the forth coming election.

Oh Good God.
Some DC are so bright that state school doesn't fit. Indeed, most private schools don't fit...

These DC thrive much better in super selectives.