Teachers, parents, and students have spelled out the impact of the UK Government's private school tax raid to the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education this week.
Natasha Asghar MS, who recently took on the education brief, visited Kings Monkton School in Cardiff alongside Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar MS.
The pair met with headteacher Paul Norton, school staff, parents, and students to get a better understanding of the challenges facing private schools following the UK Government's decision to start charging them VAT.
Concerns about how the changes would impact education as a whole, teacher numbers and extra-curricular activities were discussed at length.
Commenting after the visit, Natasha Asghar MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education said:
“There is a misconception that only rich families send their children to private school, but that really is not the case.
“Not only does Kings Monkton receive local authority funded students from across South Wales, but many of the students we met with highlighted the huge sacrifices their parents have made to provide them with this opportunity.
“As well as having a hugely detrimental impact on private schools, this rise in VAT will also do absolutely nothing to help state schools as this move could end up seeing an influx of students leaving private education.
“Ultimately it is our children, and already over-stretched teachers, who will be punished by this misguided, ideology driven tax raid and it’s imperative the Welsh Government not only puts pressure on their Westminster counterparts to U-turn, but takes action to mitigate the impact on Welsh schools and pupils.”
