SURPRISE, surprise, Bradford Council has come bottom of the class in the recently published national league tables for schools.

Any parent interested in their childs future must be contemplating a rush to the estate agent to investigate the possibility of moving out of the area before things get even worse.

Of course we may be misinterpreting the figures. To any simpleton like me, a

cursory glance at the statistics appears to show that Bradfords education system is, quite frankly - appalling.

But no, we are told, if you take into account Section 11 funding, then Bradford spends more per pupil than other local authorities in West Yorkshire, so everything in the garden is rosy after all.

I may be wrong, but isnt Section 11 funding specifically used to teach Asian children how to speak English?

It is not used to increase the amount of teaching materials in school, it is not used to repair leaking roofs, it is not used to lower class sizes, it is not used to achieve higher pass rates in exams, it is not used to process statements for

children with special educational needs.

The high amount of Section 11 funding proves nothing else than the simple fact that Bradford has a higher than average number of pupils for whom English is not their first language.

Are Bradfords education bosses telling us that this is a deliberate policy for which they are responsible and therefore entitled to credit, despite the fact their record of teaching our children generally is - according to the Audit Commissions figures - abysmal?

Or is it the case of a situation over which they have no control being used hide the real state of affairs?

Quite rightly, the Audit Commission figures do not take into account Section 11 funding - it has absolutely no bearing on why the figures are published in the first place.

They are published as a guide to the layman to show which education authorities are failing, and by any standards, Bradford is failing.

When it comes to education standards, the so-called Ilkley Pyramid of schools is the jewel in Bradfords Crown.

If Ilkley was removed from the equation, Bradford Councils already poor position would begin to rival that of Doncaster Rovers in the Football League.

Is there anyone at City Hall prepared to take the responsibility and admit failure, or are they all huddled anxiously around the delivery end of the Excuse Machine hoping something plausible will pop out?

We could put out faith in the forthcoming Schools Review in the district, but so far, no-one has been able to convince me that swapping the tyres on a broken down down wagon will make it go.

Any set of figures can be misinterpreted and statistics can be manipulated to prove opposites, but real people know that Bradfords education system is in crisis.

To say that the figures dont look so bad when Section 11 funding has been included smacks to me of complacency. It is nothing but a red-herring.

The importance of giving our children a good education cannot be overestimated. We, as Council Tax payers, have an agreement with Bradford Council to provide the service it is being paid to carry out.

The contract is rather more complicated than the one we have with out local pizza take-away shop. Most of us cannot go elsewhere if we are not getting what we have paid for, so I think it is up to the service providers to display the mobility.

If they can't educate children in the district to at least an average national standard, or at least identify a determination to raise the district's standards in the direction of an average national standard in the near future, without raising Council Tax levels into an onerous

burden, they should resign lock, stock and barrel and take their excuses with them.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.