Comedian Romesh Ranganathan has said “the system doesn’t work” after he and his wife lost their appeal over their choice of school for their son. The Crawley-based couple were angered after their son was not offered any of their preferences for secondary school.
The 47-year-old has criticised West Sussex County Council for placing the boy in a school “on the other side of town”, rather than the one that his elder son attends. Ranganathan and his wife Leesa launched an appeal over the council’s decision but have since learned it was turned down.
Posting on Instagram on Sunday (June 22), Ranganathan said: “I realise most people won’t care but I posted a video a while ago about our son’s secondary school place, and that they hadn’t given us a school that was on any of our preferences. We appealed that decision, and we found out a couple of days ago that the appeal has been turned down.
“So we’ve just accepted it. A lot of people commented, ‘boo hoo TV comedian doesn’t get the school he wants, which is, I think if I was in your position I’d think the same thing, and the truth is we are in a privileged position and so we’re just gonna, you know, go with our alternative.
“But it doesn;t change the fact that a lot of people got in touch to say that they’d had similar situations, if not worse, and it’s particularly bad for people with children with special educartion needs and disabilities.
“I just think the system isn’t working, and when I put the video up initially, it wasn’t to say to people, ‘I think we should be given what we want’. It’s just the fact that why is it happening in the first place? There is no easy solution… but the long and short of it is, basically it’s s***.”
Ranganathan previously said he emailed the council six times with no response, and after a local MP got involved was told that an investigation by the council found the placement to be “satisfactory”.
A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: “We don’t comment on individual matters, but we acknowledge the disappointment when students cannot be placed at their first choice. We will always work with families to ensure a suitable school placement can be found.”
A former teacher turned stand-up comedian, Ranganathan hosts a BBC Radio 2 programme on Saturday mornings and the gameshow A League Of Their Own. He also previously fronted four series of The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan – which won a Bafta TV award in 2020.
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