Schools too may feel the pinch

Published on Sunday 15 February 2009 20:56

FROM a crisis in the banks to a crisis in schools: today we report on how independent schools in Scotland are preparing for possible staff cuts and delaying new building projects ahead of a projected slump in pupil enrolments as cash-strapped parents cut back.

Private education has long been controversial in Scotland. But viewed from either side of the ideological divide, a slump in fee-paying school enrolment would have serious implications. In the Edinburgh area, approximately 25 per cent of secondary pupils attend fee-paying schools. The immediate fallout from lower enrolment would be felt in teacher employment and school development. But there are consequences here, too, for the state sector, with a likely surge in intake just at a time when local council budgets are under pressure and schools are already being asked to find savings. Such economy becomes intolerable if, as seems likely, schools are having to take up the slack from a private sector struck down by deepening recession.

Private school heads are quick to stress that at present there is no evidence of a marked downturn in enrolments or parents taking their children out of school because of financial pressures. But the corrosive elements here are fear and uncertainty: parents and schools alike preparing for leaner times ahead.