[meheleventyone]

Calling a system meritocratic is like describing one as democratic it’s a statement of values rather than outcomes. The 11 plus is an example of implementation of meritocracy as parliamentary democracy is of democracy. Neither value is sufficient to prevent negative outcomes in implementation. So we see entrenched ‘worth’ divides and entrenched political parties. As per the article Michael Young actually coined the term meritocracy in order to criticise it and the negative outcomes it had produced. A lot of online debate seems overly focused on the idea that valuing merit can only bring positive outcomes.