COMPREHENSIVE education was supposed to give every pupil the same start in life. So there is a certain irony that, as Education Secretary David Blunkett rings its death knell, the Government has again put equality of opportunity at the top of its agenda. This time, the solution is to give schools thei “own unique mission and ethos”.

These reforms will undoubtedly offer more possibilities to disadvantaged youngsters in some areas, but to claim that it will create equality of opportunity is a fallacy. This time the divide will not just be between independent and state sector but between state schools.

Tuesday, February 13