Premier lesson

Mrs T's advice for CTC trail—blazers

The Prime Minister took a lesson from her own school days to urge pupils at Nottingham's City Technology College on to the path to success.

Before officially declaring the £10m college open yesterday, she quoted her old school motto: “From this school take ye true inspiration.”

She arrived in Nottingham on a twin mission. First to open a new £500,000 Institute of German, Austrian and Swiss Affairs and to view two world-leading projects at the University's physics laboratory.

Former German graduate at the University, Mr John Gunn, chairman of British Commonwealth Holdings, donated the cash for the institute.

After spending two hours at the University, Mrs Thatcher then officially opened the CTC on Sherwood Rise.

Mrs Thatcher said: “I hope it will set new standards of education.” And she urged the pupils in the audience to “learn as much as you can from education, it will influence the rest of your life.”

She said she became interested in politics, history and science because the subjects were made interesting by her teachers.

“I have been eternally grateful for that education. I would never have become Prime Minister but for it. The chances children have here will be immensely valuable.”

The science-based CTC has met with objection. The Campaign for State Education (Case) has urged future governments to scrap the college and turn it into a community comprehensive.

Mansfield businessman, Harry Djanogly, who gave £1m to start-up the college, said it was regrettable that the idea of the CTC had been rejected on “purely ideological grounds” . [end p1]

PREMIER STEPS INTO MUSIC ROW

Maggie backs banned Trina

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has stepped in to back the parents of the youngsters caught up in the Nottinghamshire music school row.

Aggrieved father Ken Bramman won the support of the Prime Minister yesterday in his row with councillors over his daughter's music lessons.

Margaret Thatcher met Mr Bramman and his wife Marlene during the official opening of Nottingham's new £10m City Technology College.

The Bramman 's daughter Trina, 11, has been banned from the county council-funded South Notts Music School because she is a pupil at the CTC which is funded by the Government and individuals.

After his meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Bramman, 44, of Sketchley Street, St Ann 's, said: “Mrs Thatcher spoke to us for a few minutes and said that it wouldn't stop here and that she will be kept informed. She was saying she disagreed with the ban.”

Mrs Thatcher said: “I think the ban is appalling. Our job is to help children get all kinds of education and not to stunt them.”

And she urged the county council education committee to re-think their policy.

She said: “I hope they will reconsider their decision which has caused intensive hostility and I am sure they will have second thoughts.”

A 1985 council ruling says only children at schools maintained by the county education committee can go to the music school.

Watertight

Deborah Wilkinson, 12, of Ilkeston Road, Bramcote, a second-former at fee-paying Ockbrook School, has also been banned from the music school.

But chairman of the education committee Coun Fred Riddell said: “Margaret Thatcher's comments merely confirm that we are right in carrying out this policy which was implemented five years ago and which is legally watertight.

“She is responsible for the CTC in Nottingham and, if it is as good as she is making out why do the children have to use the county school facilities for drama, dance, creative studies and music—especially when the CTC has more than £9m of Government money for less than 1,000 pupils when we got only £2¼m for 550 schools and ten colleges?”