Credit: This story was first seen on The Daily Mail
Illegal private schools are milking the taxpayer for £28,000 per head to look after ‘problem pupils’ in substandard conditions, The Daily Mail reports.
An investigation by Ofsted found state schools are off-loading children with behavioural difficulties into makeshift institutions, which are completely unregulated.
These businesses then ‘line their pockets’ by charging the schools or the local council enormous annual fees despite having undergone no checks, the watchdog said.
Some of the fees are only a little less than those charged at Eton College – the £35,000-a-year boarding school attended by former prime minister David Cameron.
But in contrast to elite private schools, many of these providers are keeping children in cold, unsafe and dilapidated buildings with little evidence of any teaching, Ofsted said.
Some of them are employing unqualified teachers who have not undergone criminal records checks, and many are only a few years older than the children themselves.
The units accept children who have been expelled or suspended from mainstream schools and are required by law to provide proper care and teaching.
But while there are many such units operating legally, a large number are not registered with the government – meaning they are not subject to inspections.
Some of the illegal schools cater for richer families whose children have been expelled – and charge the parents up to £33,000 per year.
One such school kept pupils in a golf club as a makeshift classroom and allowed children to mingle with unvetted adults in the bar.
Ofsted found 32 illegal institutions over the past year which could now face prosecution.
Liberal Democrat education spokesperson John Pugh said: “The practice of pushing pupils with behavioural problems out of their schools is bad enough, but to send them to inadequate, illegal institutions is truly shocking. This practice leaves vulnerable young people in risky, and potentially unsafe situations.”
An NSPCC spokesman said: ‘Every child should be safe when they go to school, and the apparent rise in these institutions which are not properly registered is very troubling. Illegal ‘schools’ are likely to lack the vital safeguarding standards needed to protect children. They could be providing substandard education, or employing staff who haven’t had the proper background checks or safeguarding training.
“Parents cannot be certain that these “schools” have passed rigorous checks that ensure their child’s safety is a top priority, making them potentially dangerous places.”