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There is no doubt that the inequalities amongst schools, state and private, need to be addressed. But asking Eton to set up a state school?! Dear me, Mr Cameron, I do think you are missing the point.

The politics of the state school vs private school system have their roots deep in British history and culture. Though I don’t wish to go digging around in this issue, a new shoot has sprouted out of government policy which does deserve some attention: free schools.

Following the introduction of academies, specialist schools, business and enterprise schools (etc, etc) I couldn’t help thinking that this new measure was bound to wither up and die very soon rather than bear any fruit. Before I marked ‘free schools’ down as ungraded in my book however, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and find out exactly what this latest flagship policy really is all about.

The website for the Department for Education defines Free Schools thus: ‘(They) are all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to what local people say they want and need in order to improve education for children in their community.’ Those involved in founding these new establishments include teachers, parents, universities, businesses, charities, faith groups, and others outside of local authority control. A total of 24 free schools are scheduled to be opened this month across the country, including a number run with a Christian ethos, one Hindu school, one Sikh and two Jewish primaries. Since these schools will be established as academies, the governing bodies will enjoy control over curriculum, pay and conditions, as well as the length of school days and terms.

The government, in an attempt to drive home what seems to be a revamped edition of Tony Blair’s famous ‘education, education, education’ mantra, hopes that through the existence of these free schools, standards in existing schools will be driven up by the competition.

But critics are arguing that these new schools will in effect poach pupils from other schools, creating micro brain drains in communities by attracting only the top pupils, leaving other schools struggling to compete grade-wise. Not to mention the money drain, as £120m has already been drained from budgets for other school buildings.

Mr Cameron, in his speech at the launch of the Free School Norwich, however hit back at criticism saying, “Those opposing free schools are simply defending the establishment – an establishment that has failed pupils and infuriated parents for too long.” Hollow words from an old Etonian perhaps, but though I am hesitant to admit it, he does have a point. In a system where ‘going by the book’ has lead to a brittle, grade-focussed system in which many students are not failing but are failed by their schools, at both ends of the spectrum, the promise of more ‘freedom’ in education seems tempting.

Allowing parents a real say in the running of schools, certainly a step up from weekly PTA meetings, as well as those with interests in and loyalties to the local areas may well see the increased care given to all students at all levels of the grade boundaries, not just those at the border-line C/D level, who often strategically receive the lion’s share of help and assistance in an attempt to bump up schools’ position in league tables or to meet Ofsted requirements.

My immediate pessimism having mellowed, it seems it is unfair to judge these fledgling free schools (which unfortunately and inevitably will be rated according to their grades – the vicious circle continues) so early in the game. One can only hope they remain not only free of charge, but free from government tinkering, and, as with previous policies, that they will not go down the drain of history taking more pupil’s futures with them.