Grammar schools ‘won’t be in any manifesto I write’, says Ruth Davison
Ruth Davison, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has said she won’t support lifting the ban on opening new grammar schools in Scotland.
Speaking before Education Secretary Justine Greening’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference, she said that a return to selection ‘won’t be in any manifesto I write’.
Her comments are in contrast to the direction of education policy being pushed by Prime Minister Theresa May in England, as set out in the ‘Schools that work for everyone’ green paper.
Davidson said: “It’s never been in any manifesto I’ve written and it won’t be in any manifesto that I write for Scotland as long as I’m leader of the Scottish Conservative party.
“It’s not the way in which we’ve been looking at academic policy. We’re going to continue looking at empowering individual schools and individual school-leavers.”
Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has also voiced her opposition to the pans ahead of Greening’s speech. Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Conference, Morgan warned that the grammar school plans were an unnecessary diversion.
She said: “For me, I do worry that a return to more selection risks undermining the progress that we have seen over the course of the last decade in our schools, by throwing something else into the education debate rather than focusing on every school offering an excellent education.”
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