The work ethic of private schools is a excellent preparation for A-level, universities and life in general. Private schools tend to have better contacts to professional businesses and the top universities. The students’ parents are mainly from professional backgrounds; this opens many doors for the students’ i.e. better work experience opportunities and superior jobs.
A major disadvantage of private education is the cost. The state education is paid for through personal taxes; on top of this, the average cost of private education is £10,000 per year. In the current economic predicament, we are seeing unemployment escalate and job losses are inevitable. Nevertheless, J.Berry (A blogger) states ‘I am incredibly privileged in being able to afford it, it just widens my choice’. Wealthier parents can financially support the school, this is positive for private schools, because they do not get any money from the government. On the other hand, wealth can cause arguments between the students because some students may be have bursary and they may feel intimidated by the wealthier students, ‘keeping up with the Jones’ is a famous saying and is commonly found in private education. It can be seen as snobbish to attend private schools, therefore people may lose friends through jealousy.
More often than not, private schools have smaller class sizes, creating a more personalized education with a smaller student to teacher ratio. This means that students can create stronger relationship bonds. J.Berry says ‘They are small enough to nurture the individual’. However, because private schools have a larger catchment area to state schools, there are not many students from the same school that live near each other, this can make it difficult to meet up with friends, and can put pressure on parents to drive their child to remote areas. On the other hand, it can be a positive because private schools finish late, there is a longer distance to travel home and the student gets a lot of homework which means that friends would not distract the child.
A disadvantage of private education would be the lack of outside knowledge and experience. If a child has been in private education for all their life, they have been ‘born with a silver spoon in their mouth’ and have a vague idea of the realistic world. They may not be streetwise and this could be a hindrance in their future when it comes to working with other people from different backgrounds. I attended a state primary school and a private secondary school, consequently I have seen the best of both worlds and they are incomparable. The competitiveness is obviously more important to private schools. This is a huge advantage to them because competitiveness prepares students for industry and their life ahead of them. Private schools have a house system and competitions are held regularly; traditional sports matches on Saturday mornings against other schools aid the development of this competitive edge.
In general, traditional values are important to private schools. Conversely, this can be a disadvantage, because the school prohibits accepting new ideas. Private education does not tend to focus on special needs students, because it can be seen as a ‘factory’ producing academic students. On the other hand, private education may encourage a specific talent a student may have, the school can match your natural skill to enhance your ability.
Nothing is guaranteed in private education, it very much depends on the area in which you live. The extra-curricular activities on offer do attract many people. Private schools can offer many opportunities because they have the money and facilities to do so. J.Berry says ‘If I chose the private school it will be because of the opportunities the private school can offer in terms of range of extracurricular activities, amount of sport, quality of coaching and level of competition.’
Sending your child to a privately educated school is the parents’ choice and because of that, there are many ‘pushy’ parents who expect too much of their children, this can be damaging to both the child and the parent. On the other hand, supportive parents are a necessity if the child is going to succeed. Confidence and self-respect are by-products of private education; this is gained by a strong discipline.
