CPS Research Fellow and education expert Tom Burkard wrote to The Telegraph to discuss calls for state schools to produce more successful Olympians.
“SIR – The failure of our state schools to produce Olympic competitors has little, if anything, to do with funding (report, August 3). In a Centre for Policy Studies report, we found an inverse relationship between spending on school sport and the level of participation. The “all must have prizes” mentality has rendered most school sport meaningless.
If Lord Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, is serious about ending the domination of independent schools in producing first‑rate athletes, he would be much better advised to look to America, where virtually every school fields competitive teams in a wide range of sport. Despite the virtual absence of an independent school sector, America is still taking the lion’s share of medals.
Tom Burkard
Visiting Professor of Education Policy
University of Derby”
To view the full letters page, visit the Telegraph website.
Date Added: Wednesday 8th August 2012
