> When it came to light that governments were segregating children in the same age group in school, making them sit in separate classrooms, and even teaching them from different textbooks – said to be based on their ability, [...] its disastrous impact on children and the way they perceived each other,[...]. They began calling their classmates not by their names but by the group name, and even refused to play with the group perceived as weak in ability<p>This is really sad. I remember even my school in the UK had 'sets', where students would be split into different classes based on ability in core subjects like English, Maths, etc. It always felt really ugly to me as a concept. I get how some students are 'pulled down' by others, especially if teachers' time is spent on the less adept or naughty ones, but it seems to instil a broken social model. I would much rather education fosters a "rising tide lifts all boats" philosophy where students are able to help each other. Otherwise a new axis of prejudice is created: a kind of knowledge-based-classism.