The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

Hideously diverse Britain: School success – the Chinese way | UK news | The Guardian.

Whenever anyone told us that certain ethnic groups do badly in school because of discrimination, my wife and I asked (based on her experiences teaching in state schools) "…if teachers are conventionally racist, why do Chinese pupils do so well and white working class children do so badly?"

Now, even the Guardian seems to get the point.

Cutting through all the condescension in the linked article, the answer is simple; the parents. What is more it's hard to argue (unless you are unconventionally racist) that there is anything Chinese parents do that other parents couldn't do just as well.

Not only is the racism industry a self-serving scam that harms the people it purports to protect, but – joy of joys – the idea that social deprivation determines life chances is stupid and dangerous too. What a life-enhancing, liberating insight! There's no need for any parent to blame others for their childrens lack of achievement. They can just show up to their parents' evenings, encourage them to do their homework and generally make it clear to them that education matters.

Who knew? Well, obviously the Chinese – and every other parent uncorrupted by British orthodoxy.

To put it another way, the envy-laden, excuse-generating ideology of the Labour movement and its house rag is – and always has been – destructive nonsense. So when can we expect a change of editorial line and a thoroughgoing purge of left-wing educationalists who have trashed the life-chances of millions? Perhaps not just yet.