Row over 'paid for' schooling

A champion of independent schooling has sparked a row by claiming failings in the state system make parents pay twice to send their children to school.

Chris Parry, of the Independent Schools Council, had a heated exchange with MPs on the schools select committee.

He said hundreds of thousands of families made sacrifices to send their children into the "paid for" sector.

Committee chair Barry Sheerman said that was "offensive", when state school parents also paid through their taxes.

Mr Parry replied: "I find it very offensive that I can't find provision in the maintained sector for my child. I pay my taxes."

He said: "Where I come from the maintained sector is very poor and my wife and I have made sacrifices to send both our children to the independent sector.

"There are hundreds and thousands of families like mine who have chosen to make that commitment both to their child's future and to the future of this country - and at significant expense, I might add."

Diploma divide

The committee is taking evidence as part of its inquiry, Diversity of school provision: links between independent and maintained schools. The independent sector educates about 7% of England's schoolchildren.

Mr Parry also said most private schools would not be choosing to teach diplomas, the new qualification designed to bridge the academic and practical divide.

Independent schools were examining other rivals to A-levels, such as the Cambridge Pre-U diploma and the International Baccalaureate, he said.

But "most" independent schools regard the traditional route of GCSEs and A-levels as "a benchmark" they will continue to use, he said.

Mr Parry also claimed teacher training tutors were turning their students against applying for jobs in independent schools.

"There is a sectarian divide between the maintained and independent sector," he said.

"There is a lot of prejudice and bullying from the maintained sector, particularly in the teacher training colleges.

"During the Cold War you had misperceptions about what is going on the other side," he said.

"We need to talk more and find out what we have in common - which, after all, is children - and then go on to build bridges."

A spokesman for the DCSF said: "The state school system is delivering for parents, regardless of their wealth or background.

"The overwhelming majority of pupils attend state schools, where the hard work of teachers and record tax payers' investment is resulting in the highest standards ever with 45% more children getting five good GCSEs than a decade ago."

Mr Parry and Barry Sheerman continued their row in an interview on the Today programme.

Chris Parry accused Mr Sheerman of "bringing back class war terms" and said this would not help children.

Mr Sheerman said he took issue with Mr Parry's assertion that people opted for independent schools because there was not a good alternative in the state sector.

A selections of your comments:

As a parent in Mr Sheerman's own constituency, I heard his spat on the Today programme and have to completely disagree with him. I felt left with no choice but to take my children away from what is, by this government's beloved tables, a high-scoring local state school as they had completely failed to provide my children with teaching relevant to their abilities. They now attend an independent school which they love and which adequately challenges them.
J, Huddersfield UK

Unlike Mr Sheerman, I don't take issue with the assertion that parents opt for independent schools because there isn't a good alternative in the state sector. One of our children attends an excellent comprehensive school. Unfortunately our other child was not able to go to that school. Our decision to send him to an independent school is one we haven't regretted for a minute. It is extremely expensive and we have had to cut back massively on other things but the peace of mind is beyond price.

I'm sure some parents would go independent whatever the state of maintained schools, but my husband and I and most of the other parents we know whose children go to independent schools made this choice precisely because we felt that the local state schools were not good enough. We were concerned about poor discipline and behaviour, high teacher turnover, high pupil turnover, schools using teachers who are not graduates in the subjects they're teaching (especially worrying for maths and science) and lack of provision for very bright children (e.g. only one modern language offered, setting not used, not much extra-curricular provision in music). We wanted our children to have others in their year group who were equally bright and well-motivated. Without that there's a high chance that the child either gets bullied or concludes that it's not cool to work. Disastrous either way.

Milly, Inner London

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Independent Schools Council
Children, Schools and Families Committee
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