Comparing schools.

Yesterday the education website went online for the first time - and was swamped by 4.5 million " hits " by 2 PM, causing it to crash.

We have dire predictions of doom from opponents and a rosy expectation of improvements from the government. What is undeniable is that parents are interested in knowing how their children's schools are performing.

There is certainly an element of risk in publishing a " warts and all " picture of each school and allowing comparisons. There will be winners and there will be losers in the popularity stakes - but the alternative is to lock this information securely away like some sort of dirty secret.

The only way to upgrade non performing schools is to drag them into focus, identify the cause of the problems - and implement measures to bring them up to scratch.

Now that schools have been dragged kicking and screaming into the public gaze it is up to parents to apply the pressure on the education authorities to spend money and take measures to achieve improvements.

Judging by the number of people who took the time to access the website - there is no doubt that the education authorities have a tiger by the tail. The information on schools is now out in the open - and the government will be judged on it's success in fixing the problems !