Rising school fees ‘let parents make teachers’ lives hell’
SOARING private school fees are leading parents to believe they can nag teachers to work ‘insane’ hours and make their lives ‘very difficult’, union leaders have said.
Many teachers at independent schools are having to work late every evening and at weekends because parents feel ‘entitled’ to get their money’s worth.
Activists say the trend has got worse in the past few years because of huge hikes in costs – with some schools now charging more than £42,000 a year.
Parents expect a 24-hour personalised service in return – but often teachers are not being paid any more and are struggling to deal with an endless stream of queries and complaints.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said some of her members in private schools are now under unbearable strain.
She said: ‘Teachers in the independent sector often tell me that we have a sense of entitlement amongst parents.
‘The entitlement is this: “We’re paying all this money for our children to be educated, therefore we expect you to get them through their exams with very good grades and to a top university”.’
Figures from the Independent Schools Council show that as of January last year, average school fees, including boarding and day schools, stood at £ 16,686 per year, and this was up 3.5 per cent compared to 2016.
According to the latest figures from the Good Schools Guide, the most expensive senior boarding school is Hurtwood House, Surrey, at £42,267 a year. Speaking at the union’s conference in Liverpool yesterday, Dr Bousted said that in many schools, rising fees are being pumped into buildings and facilities rather than wages.
She said: ‘ I think that even though it’s more expensive than ever before to get an education in an independent school, a lot of the resources go to buildings and [not] to the actual staff.
‘More and more is required of them because the parents are saying, “I’m paying £ 38,000” and they’re finding that they’re working insane hours, often late into the evening, and that’s just not being accounted for, and making their life extremely difficult.’
Dr Bousted also said that the boundaries of what teachers should be held responsible for have become blurred.
‘The teacher isn’t the child themselves. It’s the child in the end that has to put the work in to get the results,’ she said.
Among the issues due to be debated at the conference, which finishes tomorrow, is a resolution on workload and mental health among independent school workers. It argues that there is evidence of a ‘growing expectation that teachers are having to respond to emails and text messages from parents, governors and children after the working day has ended and at weekends’.
It adds: ‘Not only is this causing a challenge to their work-life balance, but is also increasing anxiety levels in teachers’ lives.’
Helen Porter, a conference delegate from Berkshire, said: ‘Parents and students make it very clear to us that they expect the grades they paid for, meaning we have to do extra revision sessions at lunchtimes, after school and even in the holidays.’
Increasingly, many schools are catering for wealthy families from Russia, China and the Middle East, where a British public school education is highly prized.
Some experts have said this shift in the market has contributed to the fee rises, since these families have vast wealth and are willing to pay almost anything.
The fee hikes also have meant some aspirational middle class families who may have sent their children to private school in the past are now often priced out.