ISC Daily News Summary

One in four adults believes that the Labour Party’s plans to impose VAT on school fees is being introduced "out of jealousy" and to punish parents opting to pay for their children's education, an Ipsos poll has found. Speaking to The Telegraph, director of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) David Walker warned that adding 20 per cent VAT to fees “could threaten the viability of hundreds of schools” and “have a negative knock-on effect to the number of bursaries each school can offer to low-income families”. Head of foundation at Bolton School Philip Britton is also quoted, having recently said “no parent should be made to feel guilty about wanting to afford an independent education for their child”. By Louisa Clarence-Smith.

The Independent also reports on the poll findings. David Woodgate, chief executive of the Independent Schools' Bursars Association (ISBA), says: “Schools will be doing everything they can to plan for Labour’s tax on children’s education. Without policy detail, it is difficult for them to do so fully – and impossible to know the full implications for their budgets.” Helen Pike, master of Magdalen College School, adds: "This [policy] is going to hit the people who can afford it least the hardest – the majority of schools don’t have the capacity to absorb the increase.” By Archie Mitchell.

Writing in CapX, Frank Young considers the reasons behind Labour's plans to tax independent school fees, suggesting it "might have more to do with geography and electoral calculations than high principles". Highlighting the variety of schools within the independent sector, Mr Young says: "Listen to the media narrative and it is easy to imagine that every independent school is like Eton College, but that is a little bit like saying Fortnum & Mason is a typical supermarket." He adds: "Adding to the tax burden of the majority of independent schools who educate a few hundred pupils could lead to serious and very urgent difficulties when they run out of fee income." Frank Young works for a Westminster think tank.

Chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) Julie Robinson writes in Tes on the financial pressures facing the education sector and, in particular, the recent rise in employer contributions to the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS). While the rise (to 28.6 per cent) is funded for state schools, independent schools will have to fund it themselves. Acknowledging that the majority of independent schools are "very small, community schools" already running on tight budgets, Ms Robinson warns: "The fact remains that many - if not most - of our schools will have to start looking at what they value and making difficult decisions about what they can afford to keep, including TPS contributions." She concludes: "The hard fact is a school that does not exist can contribute precisely zero to anyone’s pension."

A smaller proportion of children walk to school than before, despite some £2.3 billion having been spent on green travel schemes, an investigation by ministers has revealed. A report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee has suggested funds spent on “active travel” schemes such as low traffic neighbourhoods may have been wasted. By Nick Gutteridge, The Telegraph. 

Amnesty International is calling for Prevent, the UK government's anti-terror scheme, to be abolished after an 11-year-old boy was referred to it for making a joke during a fire drill. In a damning report, the human rights charity said the scheme was ”fundamentally incompatible with human rights”. By Maira Butt, The Independent. 

Strip-searching children is “unpleasant but necessary” to protect them and others from drugs and weapons, Sir Mark Rowley has said. Britain’s most senior police officer acknowledged how “tragic” it was that children were being drawn into serious crime, but that he supports his officers to use the power in the interest of public safety. By David Woode, The Times.

Tes talks to current and prospective leaders in India about why the country has become the leading destination for new schools abroad, replacing China. Colin Bell, CEO of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), says “the growth of British-orientated international schools across India is an exciting prospect". Gavin Horgan, headmaster of Millfield School, explains why Mumbai has become the destination for one of the school's first overseas campuses as part of an international expansion. Iain Henderson, deputy head of educational developments and partnerships at Wellington College, adds that the "strong cultural connection" between Britain and India has fostered educational links between the two. By Kimberley Cheung and Dan Worth.