EDUCATION was very much on the agenda during the visit to Craven by Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment, Theresa May.

Her whistle stop tour of the area brought her to Bolton Abbey Village Hall where she was guest speaker at the AGM of the ladies' branch of Skipton and Ripon Conservatives.

Later she visited Craven Collage where she was impressed with the courses on offer for further education.

She was particularly keen to see that many farmers, hit by the crisis in agriculture, were taking advantage of IT courses in order to gain other skills.

Her visit also coincided with the ballot to confirm the destiny of Ripon Grammar School. The result - that around two thirds of parents were in favour of keeping the selection system of the school - was announced later in the evening.

Mrs May would not be drawn on what she felt about the method of selection affecting Skipton's grammar schools - saying it had been used for a long time - but she did say she was concerned to hear that only six boys from Skipton were to be accepted by Ermysted's Grammar School.

And she spoke of her party's support of a selective education system.

"Everyone wants to provide an education which is right for every child. The grammar schools traditionally have done that very well; so do many comprehensive schools, but you also want to ensure that the child who is not academically gifted receives an education which is right for his needs," she said.

She added that the selection system varied from school to school and would always be controversial amongst parents.

She appreciated that many people had suggested using SATS (Standard Assessment Tests) as a more sensible approach rather than the verbal and non verbal reasoning tests.

But SATs too could bring problems:

"David Blunkett has said that by 2002 a certain percentage of pupils must achieve level four in Key Stage two for English and Maths. If not he will resign.

"That has put an enormous amount of pressure on teachers and pupils who are now working like mad to achieve these targets.

"You could find that there are some children who may achieve level four but may not be able to maintain those standards later on."

Instead, she said the Conservative Party was looking into the future of 'free' schools. These schools would get the whole of their financial budget and would be able to spend it as they liked using whichever services they liked.

They may even wish to adopt different methods of selection such as interviewing prospective pupils - something which Mr Blunkett has said will never happen.

"There will also be much more scope for parental choice," she added.

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