A Defence of Private Schools
At the heart of British Conservatism is the belief that individuals should have freedom of opportunity to pursue their goals and aspirations with minimal Governmental interference. This is a belief that is not unique to British culture, and can be found in almost every society. After all, where is the incentive to put in the graft at work and in educating ourselves if not to give something to those who will carry on our values and beliefs in the next generation? This fundamentally human aspiration has been corrupted by the Labour Party, who recently voted- at the party’s annual conference- to ‘integrate private schools into the state sector’. The consequences of this reckless move would be devastating.
The economic implications of such a drastic measure must be taken into account. In the United Kingdom there are around 2,500 independent schools, educating 615,000 children - amounting to 7 per cent of all British children. It is importance to stress that the parents currently paying into the independent school system are effectively paying twice- via taxes into the state system, and then via private school fees into the independent school system. The decision to remove private schooling from the UK education system would necessarily lead to a massive drain on state finances, because the state education system is already straining under reduced per-pupil funding and reduced funding for other areas of the education budget such as the budget used to repair and fund school buildings. In purely dispassionate economic terms, therefore, it is apparent that the position to abolish private schooling is simply untenable.
Considering the subject matter of education and the consequences for children who have been failed through incompetent education, the welfare of children must be at the forefront of our minds. Indeed, a proponent of this measure would argue that it is for the sake of the children from less privileged economic backgrounds that private schools should be abolished, so as to create a level playing field. However, this argument is invalid for several reasons. First of all, the notion of equality, while noble in principle, must be considered in the context of several other competing ideas. For instance, there is the fact that by prioritising the lofty goal of ‘equality’, it must be appreciated that this will not increase the quality of state education in any way whatsoever, whereas independent schooling will be of considerably diminished quality due to lower funding than they are used to.
Although more funding could be diverted to ex-independent schools to accommodate this, this would inevitably lead to state schools receiving even less funding than they already are- a solution which satisfies nobody. As a result, the net quality of education in the United Kingdom would decrease. This would only exacerbate the United Kingdom’s inferior position in relation to the rest of the developed world. Moreover, with a healthy dose of Realpolitik we can see that this measure would not eliminate inequality, but transform it. In reality wealthy parents would begin to buy houses near top state schools, driving up house prices and pushing out less financially-able parents from being able to send their own children there. This is clearly not a zero-sum game; everybody loses.
There are also philosophical principles and precedents that are being eroded here. As Conservatives, we are firm believers in free markets as one of the primary factors behind economic prosperity. As such, to totally dismantle the thriving market of independent schooling as the Labour Party would have it would be a large blow not only to the independent schooling sector but to neighbouring sectors which are also entwined with state provision such as health, discouraging foreign investors from investing in such areas, harming the British economy as a whole.
There is certainly a point to be made about parents who are not currently in a financial position to send their children to independent school, but dream of one day working hard enough to send their children there. There is an oft-stated accusation that public schools such as Eton act as incubators for the ruling class. While this may be true to some extent, abolishing private schools would only dilute and obscure this issue, whilst simultaneously denying aspirational members of the lower-middle and working class from realising their aspirations of giving their children the best education they can afford.
We as Conservatives therefore have a duty to defend private schools’ right to exist, as not only a pragmatic measure but for the sake of the economy and the for sake of allowing parents the right to provide for the next generation.
Written by Dominic Wong