ECNAIS
National
Report
| Independent
Schools Council |
| |
| 2005 |
| Peter
Owen |
Please
describe new laws which are in force or are being prepared. | Charities
Bill: This continues and the outcome is still uncertain. The consequences of this
could be very important. As registered charities, many schools can pay reduced
taxes: TVA. It
would be likely to bring about the closure of a number of schools. An
appeal to the European parliament would very possibly be successful as education
is a “charitable” function. However, this would take a long time, and schools
would close in the meantime. This
has put an onus on schools to show that they do offer “public benefit”….one of
the criteria for a charitable organisation. The higher the fees, the more difficult
this may be to demonstrate. There are many different strategies needing to be
applied! There
is a new Government White Paper on education. This is suggesting that State Schools
will be “free” to become Independent. Indeed, already, the “City Academies"
are being regarded by Government as “independent”. This
raises the Ecnais question of “what is Needless
to say, this white paper has caused a storm amongst teachers and amongst the Labour
/ Socialist factions! New
Employment laws may have consequences for Independent Schools. This includes sections
on age discrimination, sex discrimination. Equal pay and sex orientation discrimination. The
proposals that Males may also have maternity leave may also be significant! |
Discussions
about the situation of the independent schools. Does
the discussions take place in the media, if yes, which questions are raised. | There
are almost too many to list! Issues
about education are achieving high profile at present. In part because of the
government white paper. Issues
include: The decline in Language teaching above primary
level. The government
is promoting primary language teaching, but has removed the need for all to study
a language to 16. There is a very serious decline in students studying languages
to 18 or at University. The methods of selection to Universities. Independent
schools are FAR more successful in gaining University places than the state schools,
especially at the better universities. There is a move to get Universities to
take more children from more deprived backgrounds….meaning effectively that they
discriminate against children from Independent schools….and accept those who did
less well at A level. Levels of Literacy and Numeracy: There
is much concern that in spite of the Government’s drive on educational basics,
the Boys and Girls: The gap between the achievements of Boys and
Girls continues to widen, with the Girls out-performing the boys. Exams: More
and more children succeed year upon year in their exams. Whilst it is true that
education has become more organised, and perhaps, more professional, in many ways,
children are not more able than in previous generations. The increased exam success
is considered to be largely due to a watering down of the exams and the standards
demanded for success. There is a feeling of frustration among the most able that
there is nothing in the exams in which they can show their true ability. This
has consequences for the most academic who are not being stretched, but also for
the less able, who are gaining qualifications for higher education for which they
are not intellectually equipped. Within
the Independent sector there is a strong move away from National exams towards
the International Baccalaureate. |
Progress,
stagnation, decline. Problems,
challenges for the Association. | For
the first time in a number of years there has been a very slight decline in numbers
in the Independent sector. This
amounts to only a 0.6% decrease. However, this does need to be seen with an eye
to the Demographic forecast for the coming 5 years. These
predict a fall in the child population by 2010 of 4.9%......For the Independent
sector, a fall of 4.9% translates to 24,703 children. Assuming that the sector
held the same overall percentage of the school population. With
rising costs of Independent education and the possibility of recession nationally
or internationally, there are obvious concerns. Office of Fair Trading Investigation: The
OFT has been investigating the “price-fixing” by groups of Independent Schools.
The Bursars of some of the larger schools met each year in a number of small groups
of similar schools to discuss the likely fee increases and to agree to be more
or less in line with each other. This
has contravened the competition laws and could
lead to large fines on the schools involved. The
Independent schools acknowledge that they were in the wrong technically, but that
the meetings were nor for “price fixing.” |
Growth
or decline? The
schools’ financial situation? | As above Financially,
life is tough and competitive. With
NO government money at all, Independent education is expensive, and so, parents
must make considerable sacrifices to send their children. There is a limit to
the number of parents who can make this financial commitment, or are prepared
to do so. This
may make boarding more difficult too. |
Has
the Association during the past year made any particular initiatives in order
to promote the work in the independent schools? | There
have been initiatives to encourage good young teachers into Independent Schools
from Universities. There
have been considerable initiatives to move towards areas of partnership with the
Maintained state sector. There
have been important moves top make schools make better use of their resources
for “public benefit” (see above). This
includes making resources an facilities available to the community around the
school, helping other maintained schools, and diverting money from scholarships…often
awarded to able children whose parents were already paying the school fees…to
bursaries to enable able children from
less affluent families to attend the schools. |
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