This is the political context of the Educational Reform Act of 1988, the legal instrument for the reorganization of education, including the imposition of a National curriculum. The two contradictory Forces are also at work in educational policies (Maw, 1988). Both serve to shatter any semblance of equality between schools and equality of opportunities for students. Consequently, both aid the formation of a hierarchy and ‘pecking order of schools, and hence among students.