Prepping for the end

Preparatory schools will now only
be allowed to exist in Narnia

EDUCATION Minister Caitriona Ruane’s decision to end any funding of preparatory schools has received much coverage.


With the Equality Impact Assessment consultation about to end, DENI officials will be poring over letters, representations and maybe even some reasoned arguments from both sides.


Whether right or wrong, Caitriona seems now to be aiming to be the first minister in history to either end an unequal system, or drive the most wealthy of parents to create a real two-tier system of education.


Only the really, really wealthy will send their offspring to prep schools, cutting off the middle classes from their aspirations for their little darlings. The primary schools will then be overwhelmed with Tarquins and Trixibelles, leading to more and more barristers on the average PTA committee, leading to more and more headaches for the Minister when each of the PTA committees and boards of governors try and find a way to get more cash, perhaps even with a Judicial Review or six thrown in.


Congratulations to Minister Ruane for making sure that the administration of education is never boring!