It must have caught the eye of every cash-strapped but ambitious parent in Scotland: “Woodhead plans low-cost private school for capital.”

The juxtaposition of “low-cost” and “private school” was worthy enough of note for those who find themselves, at the start of every term, handing over increasingly large sums of money to keep their children in the Scottish independent sector. But when we add Chris Woodhead, former head of Ofsted (the body that monitors school standards in England and Wales), friend of Prince Charles, and scourge of the educational establishment, into the equation, we have something to make us sit up straighter at our desks.

Woodhead’s idea is, on the face of it, perfectly wonderful.

In despair, so it seems, of any improvement in state education, he has set up a private school company called Cognita, which aims to open up independent education to those who even in their wildest of dreams, would not be able to afford Eton or Gordonstoun, but might just scrape together enough for something about a third of the price. Comparisons with supermarkets are, I suppose, inevitable, and if the Etons and Gordonstouns are in the Harrods bracket, the 20 Cognita schools already operating in England are more like Tesco. In other words, you get good quality stuff, but you won’t find many frills.

Two things sprang immediately to mind. First of all, if Woodhead can offer low fees, why can’t my children’s school? Who cares about frills? Who wants school logos displayed on plasma screens? Schools are about education not new carpets.

Then I looked more closely at Cognita’s proposed charges: between £6,000 and £9,000. Aha! It seems that Woodhead’s genius regarding price may, in Scotland, be more to do with marketing than reality. By advertising as low-cost, his schools are guaranteed to generate enormous interest, but since the fees are more or less in line with other schools, he may have a fight to win his share of the market.

Now, I thoroughly approve of more independent schools setting up in Scotland. Everything that challenges the state’s stranglehold seems good news to me. But I wonder whether, to be successful north of the border, Woodhead has done his homework properly.

The predominant worry for Scottish parents who choose the independent option is not money but quality. Having taken the enormous decision to sign away all holidays for the foreseeable future, most Scots are not looking for the cheapest option, they are looking for the best. If one school costs £500 per year more or less than another, that is a very secondary consideration. No parent will want to spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar, even if ha’p’orths come rather more expensive nowadays. Parents never choose an independent school because it is cheap, since however cheap it is, if it cannot deliver the goods the fees are just money down the drain. Better to dig deeper and at least get the full benefit.

Where Cognita might score in Scotland, however, is through their “traditional values” stance, for Woodhead strikes a chord when he declares that he wants “what concerned parents have always wanted: teachers who care equally about the subjects they teach and the children for whom they are responsible, who have the highest possible expectations of each and every one of their pupils, and who, obviously enough, can keep order and explain new ideas with a clarity and enthusiasm which captures a child’s imagination”.

The question the Scottish educational establishment should be asking, however, is not whether or how Cognita can deliver these things cut-price, but why, in 2005, such things should only be deliverable through a private company.

I also wonder if Woodhead is prepared to take the brave step of abolishing computers in the classroom. Computers, apart from in computing lessons, have become the “anti-learning” tools. Screens blink away, encouraging children to put down their books and instead take the easy option. A school in which no child was allowed to look up anything on the web they could just as easily find between book covers would certainly be offering something of real traditional value.

I’m all for making life easy — but easy for adults. Children should work harder for their knowledge. Computers have been disastrous for initiative as well as for spelling and grammar. The joy of seeking knowledge through books is that you pick up far more things along the way than by simply typing a phrase into Google. The journey becomes as interesting and informative as the destination.

If, as part of his low-cost package, Woodhead could re-popularise the reference book, as well as putting enthusiasm and discipline back into the education system, he would not have to advertise to fill his classrooms, but find ways of politely turning parents away.

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