Should private schools be abolished?

A private school is a very institutionalised, artificial environment where the child will be exposed only to children of their own socioeconomic background. Added to this, there are less safeguards in place to assure the parents that the children are being taught from the same curriculum as a state school and are not being abused, especially if it is a boarding school.

The pressure on private schools to take and provide for students of less priviledged backgrounds means the students are increasingly diverse. Private schools are institutionalised, but this need not necessarily be a bad thing. Many opportuinities are avaliable through a private education which a state school will not provide, sport, music etc. Exploring beyond the curriculum is a key part of the ethos and can help expand student's minds. The centralisation of the exam process means that the curriculum has little chance of being abused.