By Ashley Young And Hortensia Daniels-
Private schools in the UK are struggling to survive in the wake of the coronavirus crisis as parents who have lost their income cancel direct debits and overseas pupils face uncertainty over the future.
Well to do parents who pay over £30k a year to have their children educated in the Uk’s best primary and secondary schools are refusing to pay fees for the rest of the year following sweeping cancellations of schools and exams as part of the government’s desperate aim to tackle the pandemic that has cost several lives.
Concerns that smaller independent schools will be driven out of business in the wake of the crisis has led to several of the offering fee discounts ranging from 10% right up to 50% for the summer term to take into account the fact that schools have closed and are only able to offer an online education.
However many parents are dissatisfied with the limited offer of online education which cannot make up for the excellence of physical teaching by high quality teachers who concentrate on just a handful of pupils in each class. Mariam Mariama, an education adviser from Best Schools Uk told The Eye Of Media.Com:
”parents from’each individual school have been written to. Each school will work something out. Teachers make sure students do work they are given, and parents also want to get their money’s worth. So every parent’s decision will depend on the individual school their child attends.
Private schools in the Uk provides one of the best education in the world, using top qualified teachers that graduated from Britain’s best universities to train its pupils into great thinkers and high academics.
BEST PERFORMERS
Private school pupils are generally the country’s best performers in the annual G.C.S.E’s and A level exams. The sudden halt to schools have meant children attending private schools have been forced to stay at home and miss out on the highly distinguished education they receive, although online guidance and assignments are sufficient to keep them busy.
The pupils also have the opportunity to read more at home and expand their understanding of the challenging and varied curriculum. Many of the Uk’s state schools also provide a high level of education, but can hardly compete as a whole because of the focused level of education channelled to each child in a private school setting.
Further advantages come from the fact that all the pupils in private schools are expected to be more serious than those in state schools because of the high financial investment in their education which they appreciate.
SCREENED
Students are also screened through an entry examination requirement, ensuring their suitability and readiness for task ahead.This means teachers in such highly academic environment often avoid the discomfort of having to deal with disruptive and unruly students which is systemic in many state schools.
Many schools are promising a fee freeze for the next academic year. There have been increased bursaries and hardship funds for families hit by the global crises in a bid to keep places full and parents on board.
Image: besteducation.com
P.S: This article was contributed by both authours