We all know now that the UK general election is set for July 4th and there is a strong feeling that the Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer will end fourteen years of Conservative rule.
What will this mean for education?
Initial statements on Labour party policy relating to education focuses on increasing the number of teachers in our schools, funded by adding VAT to private school fees. There are a number of issues with this policy and the consequences of it are already being felt through the world of private education.
More teachers?
Increasing the number of teachers in our schools is one way of describing one of Labour’s flagship policies but a look at the small print shows that this is about recruiting an additional 6500 teachers but doesn’t account for the projected loss of teachers in the profession of nearly double that number. Whether there will be a net gain of 6500 remains to be seen but even if this is the case, it’s no more than a small sticking plaster on an open wound. Are more teachers the solution?
Ask a teacher and they’ll say that the issue is not the number of teachers (by the way, the extra teachers work out at 0.2 new teachers per school) but the whole school system; from excessive emphasis on data driven education, the appalling discipline seen in schools, rife bullying, the psychological effects of the pandemic and more, the list goes on. Like much of the creaking infrastructure in the UK, the size of the problem and hence the scale of the solution is such that there are just far too few resources to provide an effective and lasting solution.
More pressure on state schools
It’s been said in the past that the private school system, whilst ‘elitist’ relieved some of the pressure on the state system by educating students who would otherwise attend the state schools. It doesn’t take much to see that adding VAT to private school fees, pricing as much as 20% of current private school students out of private education, will increase the pressure on schools which, in many cases, are already bulging at the seams.
What is the solution then?
With private school fees set to rise by 20%, many parents, and their children, are very concerned about their child’s remaining years in education and this is where online education can step in to fill the gap between private education and state education in physical schools. Fees are very reasonable and all online schools operate effectively as private schools. Choose one with small class sizes, comprehensive online resources and experienced teachers and you’ll have many of the benefits of a private education without the hefty price tag.
