Melissa Benn: School Wars

In her book School Wars: The Battle for Britain’s Education, Melissa Benn argues that private education divides our nation, diminishes the work of the majority of state schools and diverts from the struggle for a first-class publicly funded, publicly accountable system. She outlines some key principles for restoring strong educational values within a fair, non-selective public education system, moving from the important concept of universal education to the even more crucial practice of universal excellence. She provides a preview of the new edition which will look at recent developments in Scottish and Welsh education. Melissa Benn, daughter of Tony Benn, is the author of many novels and non-fiction books and is active in education debates.