There’s no moral argument for the State to subsidise private schools. Just a pragmatic one

What happens if the state stops funding private schools?

Private school fees are on the rise and discussion about whether the State should keep on funding them has resurfaced. It is a conversation that the schools in question are probably better off staying out of, as it’s not a debate they can win. However, that did not stop the principal of Alexandra College in leafy Milltown from wading in with an impassioned plea about “ethics, morality and fairness for taxpaying parents who are simply making a choice”.

It is a facile enough argument. The reality is that there is no serious moral or ethical argument for the State to subsidise a two-tier education system, just as there is no moral or ethical reason for the state to subsidise a two-tier health system. But it does for pragmatic reasons.

The two anomalies have the same origin: the farming out by the nascent Irish State to the Catholic Church of responsibility for delivering — and to a certain extent determining — great swathes of social policy. The other churches went along for the ride.

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In both cases, the result is a chimera; a State-funded system enmeshed with a private system which the wealthy can avail of at a discount. It is demonstrably unfair, but as we have seen with Sláintecare, disentangling the two is far from easy and is also expensive.

It is easy to predict what would happen if funding was withdrawn from private schools. The 50 fee-paying schools would be faced with the choice of either putting up fees and keeping on going or transferring into the State system

[ Why fees for Ireland’s most prestigious private schools are on the rise ]

The same problem would arise, albeit on a lesser scale, if the Government was to withdraw State support — primarily in the form of paying teachers’ salaries — from the private school sector, as proposed by both Labour and Sinn Féin should they be in power.

Rather than “save” the €112 million it pays in teachers’ salaries and other supports at private schools the State could end up paying considerably more. It is easy to predict what would happen if current funding was withdrawn from private schools. The 50 fee-paying schools would be faced with the choice of either putting up fees and keeping on going, or transferring into the State system lock stock and barrel.

There is certainly enough money in Ireland to keep a considerable number of private schools going. The current level of fees — between €4,000 and €10,000 — is within the reach, just about, of the middle classes and almost irrelevant to the very wealthy.

The other schools — the ones that enter the State system — have several embedded characteristics which means that their student mix is unlikely to change dramatically. Certainly not in the short term

The UK system gives some sort of guide as to where fees might end up. The Independent Schools Council says the average annual fee for private school in the UK — which receive no state funding — is £16,000 (€18,500).

The other schools — the ones that enter the State system — have several embedded characteristics which means that their student mix is unlikely to change dramatically. Certainly not in the short term.

Their catchments tend to be better-off areas which would result in a steady stream of qualifying middle-class and upper-middle-class applicants who can afford ratcheted-up “voluntary” contributions and extra charges for the sort of extra-curricular activities now on offer. Some will have religious affiliations that will allow them to be even more selective about the students they take on.

There may also have to be deals done with the owners of the schools, which in many cases are religious orders. If their approach to real estate mirrors that of some religious orders who operate in the health service they will drive a hard bargain. And of course, the State will pay all the salaries of all the teachers and provide capital grants and other funding that is not available at present.

Fee-paying schools retain a stranglehold on the top universities

The worst-case scenario is one in which all the above happens but the private schools that enter the State system remain difficult to get into, elitist and more expensive than other State schools.

If this were to happen it would not do much for the democratisation of the third-level education sector. This year’s feeder school tables may have shown that the number of school leavers progressing to third level from disadvantaged areas was at record numbers, but the fee-paying schools retain a stranglehold on the top universities. All that would happen if these schools entered the State system is the numbers would look better but the social mix of entrants to UCD, Trinity and the rest would not change much.

It may well be a moral and ethical argument for doing away with the inequity of State funding for private schools but it would be difficult, costly and most likely make little difference.