\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx3255\tx6525\tx9780\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 \fs22 BritainÆs most famous public school is Eton College, founded by King Hen
ry VII in 1440. Old Etonians have been occupying positions of authority in British life for the past two centuries at least. Another well-known seat of private secondary education is Harrow, founded in 1571, whose former pupils include the poet Byron
and Sir Winston Churchill. During the 19th century a number of new public schools were founded to provide the government of Britain and her colonies with a well-disciplined social Θlite able to transmit high-minded Victorian ideals to distant outposts o
f the empire. In relatively recent years, many of these all-male schools have gone co-educational. By the same token, the girlsÆ public schools, though less prominent, have also opened up their gates to admit students of the other sex. Such Θlitist sc
hools have attracted continuing social criticism over the years, and also witnessed the financial decline of their traditional catchment areas such as the clergy and the country gentry. They have thus offered publicly-funded places to outstanding studen
ts from less privileged backgrounds and enormously improved their performance in the sciences and academic standards in general.\par
