Sir, – Three cheers for Pauline Bleach’s letter (September 8th). She has hit the nail on the head.
The truth is that sending children to a private school ensures two things: the parents can drop suitably impressive nuggets into conversations about their little darlings; and Simon and Jocasta will not be mixing with Darren and Chantelle. That’s really what it’s all about – “prestige” is the polite word for it, but “snobbery” is a tad more accurate.
Some parents may think that purchasing this “positional good” is worth the enormous expense. That is their privilege, so long as they carry the entire cost themselves, and do not ask taxpayers to subsidise it. But do not let us confuse it with educational value. – Yours, etc,