LONDON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A national talent search is planned in Britain to find 150,000 of the brightest children in state schools who will be fast-tracked to top universities.
The program will invite 30,000 children each year to join the Government's National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth. The program will use results from primary school tests taken by 11-year-olds.
The plan comes after teachers were accused of being ideologically opposed to singling out gifted children for special help. It was found that 40 percent of secondary schools had never recommended any child to attend the academy, reports The Times of London.
Supporters of the plan say it will end the imbalance at Oxford, Cambridge and other elite universities between students from state and fee-paying schools. Critics will see it as a renewed attempt at social engineering by giving state students a head start in the race for university places, The Times reported.
