Life after Thursday may be a step in the unknown ….

No doubt schools have examined the notion of leaving the EU from all sides by now. All sides but one that is-the impact of an exit on the schools themselves. With so many so-called facts gushing forth it is hard to tell truth from fiction and with no consensus on anything to be seen it is hard to get a firm grip on the possible consequences. All we know for certain is that life after Thursday maybe a step into the unknown.

Our schools are not businesses but they are businesslike and they are victims of the changes that bear down on other fee charging organisations. They don’t do so well in times of market insecurity and income uncertainty.

If we stay in then boarding schools will continue with the familiar problems of red tape, visas and so on through well-worn gritted teeth. Brexit might mean reform, clarity, independence and a purple patch for the movement of international students in to the UK but identifying a cause of this effect is not easy. At least in the short term the shock waves elsewhere are likely to mean things stay the same or get more complex. If the changes put the frighteners on international families we will lose out. It is tempting to think we are better with the devil we know.

Either way this lack of clarity highlights two things. The powers that be have given the independent sector scant regard in the debate and our sector has not appeared at any parapet to make comment and so risk being shot at. Educational voices loud at other times seem very quite on this matter and the sector associations have not spoken out on our behalf. I think this is a pity. The independent school sector can offer an intelligent, well-educated alternative to the easy wins and goading we see and hear elsewhere. Looking at the daily churn of the BBC ITV etc there is no mention of how Brexit might effect the next generation. The voice of the voters of the future has been lost in roar of immigration, EC costs, sovereignty and the bickering of our media-hungry political classes.

Children our schools in the UK are educated as members of Europe (as a union or otherwise) and many are in schools where nation speaks unto nation on a daily basis. These may be high fee boarding schools or inner city state schools. No matter who pays the bills in these schools there is a message of internationalism and tolerance. Many schools have international campuses; international qualifications (such as the IB) are regarded highly and schools enjoy initiatives such as Model United Nations and Round Square. Our schools embrace international unity and whilst it does not follow that EU membership is a requirement it does not sit easily with many of the anti-immigration arguments we hear.

Perhaps the sector should not come down on one side or the other. Perhaps there are enough voices clamouring to be heard as it is. Perhaps we are confused enough already. On Friday at least the voting will be over and the decision will have been made. Will Britain be a better place after the public have witnessed the scaremongering, spurious data, doomsday scenarios and name calling? I doubt it. I suspect these will be lessons we have to “unlearn” and I hope that the children in our school have not taken these methods of debate and rhetoric to heart.