Independent schools told to help city academies

Leading independent schools were urged by the Government yesterday to put in bids to run the city academies being set up to serve struggling urban areas.

David Miliband, the minister for School Standards, told a joint conference of independent and state school headteachers in Brighton: "Think about it – the Eton Academy, the Winchester Academy. It has a certain ring to it.''

Representatives of the independent sector said leading schools were likely to support the idea. Mr Miliband's proposal comes against the backdrop of an independent review for the Cabinet, which suggests that fee-paying schools should lose their charitable status if they fail to work with their local communities and neighbouring schools.

Under the city academy programme, sponsors have to put in £2m to receive £20m of government funding to set up academies to replace failing inner-city schools. In exchange, the sponsors will run the academies and appoint all governors and staff.

Ministers believe the expertise of the private sector could be crucial in improving performance in the academies.

In a speech at the £16,000-a-year Brighton College, Mr Miliband made clear that the Government's drive to involve the private sector in improving public services meant handing over the running of state schools to the independent schools. "We cannot allow the barriers of tradition and suspicion to block educational advance,'' he said. "We need to see every educational resource in the country as a resource for the country.''

He said divisions between independent and state schools in England were deeper than elsewhere. He added: "But barracking and finger-wagging are not going to serve our children at all. For too long schools have been isolated – within the state sector and between the state and independent sectors."

Mr Miliband apologised for a previous Labour administration's decision to abolish direct grant schools in the 1970s. In these schools, state school children who passed the 11-plus were given government grants so they could afford to attend fee-paying schools.

His plans were welcomed by representatives of independent school headteachers. Dick Davison, joint director of the Independent Schools Council, said: "I think there is a possibility that schools will want to be involved in this. There is certainly a great deal of goodwill amongst heads I have spoken to about this."

Dr Anthony Seldon, headmaster of Brighton College, said: "I think it's fine, although it will only affect a small number of schools who are in a position to afford to do this."

There was a furious response from state school teachers' union leaders. Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "We have always been convinced that the Government is about restoring selection by stealth. This is just another clear example of it."

The Government has set itself a target of creating 50 city academies.

Meanwhile, one in three state secondary school pupils was now taught in the Government's new specialist schools, the conference was told. Elizabeth Reid, the chief executive of the Technology Colleges Trust, which represents specialist schools, said nearly 1,000 were already open. She said she expected all state secondary schools to be specialist by 2010.