European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine Privily elitist education thrives in England the statue of Henry i Eton s founder watches Over Young Thoton on their Way to class. By Joseph Lelyveld new York times see there Are now More estonians than estonians in the Cabinet the Nona Genaria lord Stockton known As Harold Macmillan in his prime ministerial Days was reported to have commented archly at his club Early this year. His remark came after the resignation of a member of prime minister Margaret Thatcher s government who happened to to jewish. The ancient grandee obviously knew Hal there Are jewish estonians and that the minister was British not estonian. His studiously naughty play on words might even have been taken As English of tory self satire but it implied a View that this country is most in tune with the natural order when graduates of Eton College Are conspicuous in its governing councils. An old estonian himself the former prime minister presided More than two decades ago Over a Cabinet that included nine other graduates of the country s Besl known Public actually private schools. Today under a prime minister who came out of the stale system the number of estonians in the Cabinet is four but no one is suggesting that Eilef Eton or the traditional British Public schools Are in eclipse. On the contrary a sense of crisis in the stale schools As manifested by chronic strikes by teachers and demands for increased financing has led to an increase in the proportion of British parents prepared to invest in Elile schooling for their sons and daughters As a Way of smoothing their passage to Oxford and Cambridge and beyond. When Thatcher came to Power in 1979, Svi percent of British students were in private schools now. The comparable figure is above fit percent. Nearly one filth of All students who stay in school until the sixth form the last year of secondary school before University Entrance Are in the private schools. And Oxford and Cambridge still draw about half their students from private schools. To would be reformers in the opposition labor parly but also on the More leftist fringes of the grouping known As the Liberal social democratic Alliance these numbers document the tenacity of the British class system and of privilege. Three decades ago labor parly reformers talked of absorbing the Public schools into the state system. A Resolution to that a Tinct was passed again at the parly s annual conference last month Over the objections of Neil Kinlock the party s loader who has inched Back from a pledge he once made to see everybody in the state  now he promises to attack the tax free status of Tho private schools As certified charities and to shut Down a program initiated by Thatcher that provides state funds for More than 21,000 students at these schools noting that no members of Kinlock s Shadow Cabinet Send their children la private schools in perfect contrast to Thatcher s ministerial colleagues who have put no children in slate schools the headmasters of the old elite schools believe that this Lime they Ace a threat thai is More than theoretical i think the threat is real and i think it would be tragic said Eton s headmaster. Eric Anderson a genial Scot who manages an inf Onnal manner in a formal morning Coal and striped trousers you Don t begin to solve problems in the schools by getting rid of the Good schools you  seen from the inside out Eton exemplifies change and adaptation As Well As tradition. Indeed sometimes All these values can be captured in a single image such As that of a youth in the traditional Swallow tailed Coal and stiff White Eton Collar thai have been part of the school uniform since the 19th Century bending Over a word processor in the computer Center. Oliver Percival a second year student who had already changed into Street clothes after classes had created his own computer program to assist him in the conjugation of latin verbs a Basic Eton chore for nearly five and a half centuries.  said the message flashing at the lop of his terminal screen these Are Nasty third conjugation  one of the ways Eton and comparable British boarding schools have Learned to defend themselves from the criticism thai they Are places where the privileged buy social advantages for their children has been to raise their academic standards even higher. Eton which has resolutely ignored the tide of co education thai has swept Over Oxford and Cambridge still allows old estonians to sign their sons up a birth. But since All applicants have to pass a test a filial connection is no guarantee of admission. About percent of the boys still turn out to be sons of estonians and seventh generation estonians Are not unknown but some Long term teachers remember plainly enough the Days when boys whose tamers did not go to Eton accounted for scarcely one in three of the total enrolment. Even More diverse now Are the backgrounds of the teachers some of whom now come to Eton Wilh backgrounds at state schools and universities Olhorn than Oxford or Cambridge and Iho destinations to which today s lonians go. It is no longer unthinkable for a product of Iho school to wind up at one of the newer Ted Brick universities in fact of the 192 Eton graduates who entered British universities this tall just one third Well to Oxford or Cambridge. As a Hind of after Matevc action Eton offers scholarships to two or three 10 or 11-year-Olds at state schools each year to enable them to gel the preliminary schooling that would qualify them for admission at 12 or 13. But the oldest program to seek out youngsters of unusual abilities regardless of their social background was established by King Henry i when he founded the school in 1440, about 14 King s scholars Are admitted each year about five of them on full scholarship in an annual intake of about 250. In other words about 80 percent of the students come from families that Are Able to pay the full fees which now amount to about $8,200 a year. The school has steadily become More rigorous academically for the Ordinary students but the King s scholars still live apart and Dine apart in buildings Hal have been reserved for them since the 15th Century. Joel Hagan. The son of a Cheshire teacher in a state school who has never had to pay any fees Wil already have had eight years of greek and 10 years of latin when he enters Oxford next year to study classics. He and another Young classicist Stephen Towler Bolh said they thought they would eventually aim or careers in the City the London financial District. Asked whether there was any disadvantage in being an estonian they said it was embarrassment stemming irom the widespread expectation among outsiders thai they can count on an old boy s network to get ahead. They doubted there was any such thing but they knew that an Eton education was itself a privilege and a decided advantage. Anderson the headmaster was asked whether there was still an Assumption that Eton prepares Britain s leaders. I think we quietly expect a lot of our people to do Well he replied but it would be quite wrong to say that they will always be among the nation s leaders. I think we would be More reluctant to talk about it in that Way than they used to be Here but i Don l think the aim is really any  the stars and stripes Page 13