Like a luxury car, private education is a status symbol

AFTER the chilly winds of the recession, the good times are back for the private school sector with demand outstripping supply, sometimes by as much as three applicants for every available place.

And it’s not just the international elite who, wary of Brexit, are eyeing up Glenstal or Clongowes as alternatives to Eton. According to the principal of Castleknock College, many applications are from the other end of the spectrum.

‘There are definitely more people now who have money and can afford it, but our school has a lot of parents who made sacrifices to send their children here. They’re shopkeepers, they’re taxi drivers, they aren’t the stereotypical view of wealthy people. Instead they like to think, “I did it. I decided to forgo a holiday because it was worth it for my child”.’

Now, while it’s preferable that our private schools are cheaper than abroad where only the super-rich can afford it, the idea of parents making noble sacrifices so their children can enjoy it is preposterous. Sacrifice has religious undertones, suggesting heart-wrenching choices for the sake of a high ideal.

The reality is that school fees, like holidays or luxury cars, are paid out of disposable income by those lucky enough to have some at the month’s end.

Nobody talks about making sacrifices in order to take a holiday to the Caribbean or to buy a designer kitchen, because they would be laughed out of court.

Surely the same should go for private education; it’s a luxury that is out of the reach of most. And like soaring car sales or property values, it’s back in demand now that the country is in the money.