Labour delegates approved reforms for the abolition of private schools. It would not only remove the current charitable status of private schools but also cause the redistribution of endowments, properties, and investments to the public sector.
Conference delegates endorsed a motion which stated that this commitment ought to be the part of the party’s manifesto for the forthcoming general elections. Universities would have to follow the same student proportion of 7% for giving admissions to private schools’ students.
Angela Rayner – Labour’s education spokeswoman, gave a statement declaring that in its very first budget, the Labour government is going to fight the ‘tax loopholes” currently benefiting private schools. The party is also determined to get rid of Ofsted – an inspection body in England, replacing it with an inspection system based on two-phases instead.
This proposal has got mixed reviews from relevant circles. Holly Rigby, Abolish Eton campaigner applauded the proposal saying that the Labour party has fulfilled its long-held commitment for dealing with private school-borne issues. He called it a victorious moment for the left.
On the other extreme, these educational reforms are not well-received by many.
Private schools take the abolition as an “assault”
Julie Robinson – chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, termed this act as an assault on the parental right for choosing desirable education for their children. For her, it won’t be doing any good let alone improving the education system. According to her, it doesn’t only limit the educational opportunities but would also cause wide-ranging and irreparable damage to the education system.
But Rayner fully supports the move and said that a new body would be established for getting the private schools well integrated into the state system. Their first budget would fight the tax loopholes benefiting private schools thus using the saved bucks for getting the lives of all children improved.
As for abolishing Ofsted, she said that all schools would not be restricted to a “one-word grade” any longer instead the inspection system would be replaced with the new system of “peer review“. This updated system would encourage experts from all schools to work hand in hand to achieve the common goal of excellence, she promised.
NASUWT, a teaching union applauded this move alongside many others. According to the statistics of Teacher Tapp, out of 3,000 teachers all across England, forty-six percent (46%) backed this proposal, whereas, thirty-one percent (31%) opposed the move and as many as twenty-three percent (23%) were yet undecided.
