The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has stated that he will slap VATon private school fees. He says that the amount thus raised will pay for free school meals to all primary school children. However, this will add another 25% or so on the already sky high private school fees. This Robin Hood style policy of robbing the so called rich to give to the poor will cause distress to people who sacrifice little luxuries and comforts of life to provide better education for their children.
Many of us Asians, particularly the Gujaratis, do not have much faith in the state education system and hence we scrape and save and send our children to private schools where standards are higher and the pass rates surpass that of state schools. Also, we know that even today, overt and covert discrimination exists in this country where the colour of ones skin determines the better job prospects for candidates. We cannot change the colour of our skin or the way we look, therefore, to get better propects in the employment market and to get a better standard of living, our children need to be better qualified than the rest.
The impostion of VAT on private school fees will mean that many parents will have to give up the ghost and transfer their children to state schools. This is one reason why I will not vote for Labour in the next General election which is scheduled on 8 June.
Dinesh Sheth
Newbury Park, Ilford
