Labour’s plan to charge VAT on private school fees could hit girls “hardest”, an education chief has suggested.
Donna Stevens, chief executive of the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA), said Labour’s policy could be “damaging” to progress made in gender equality.
Addressing headteachers of girls’ schools at the GSA annual conference in the Cotswolds on Monday, Ms Stevens highlighted “emerging political threats”.
The GSA chief told the PA news agency: “My concern is that this policy would hit a disproportionate number of girls’ schools and that’s going to be damaging for the progress we’ve made in the last 150 years in terms of equality.”
She warned that there could be “more gaps in terms of accessing a girls’ school” if private schools are forced to close as a result of Labour’s policy.
Girls are disproportionately taught in the independent sector which would mean female pupils are more likely to be affected by Labour’s plans to scrap tax exemptions for private schools, Ms Stevens has suggested.
