Defund Private Education

By Vincent Baures Marquier

"Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit." Article 26, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

A System of Inequality in the European Union

While the EU is supposed to be committed to human rights and social equality, private schools continue to grow while undermining these principles. All around Europe, a dual system still exists: the elite can afford to send their children to private schools while public education struggles to provide a good educational environment for lower-income families. The system perpetuates social inequalities, allowing wealthy families to access superior education while those from lower-income backgrounds still face systemic barriers to success.

At the same time, private schools are too often in the shadows of public scrutiny, allowing them to implement systemic abuse and discrimination within them. In the UK, for example, thousands of testimonies have exposed cases of abuse within elite private schools, revealing a culture of impunity regarding those institutions. These cases demonstrate how the lack of public regulation in private schools can lead to an environment where misconduct can go unchecked.

Private institutions are breeding grounds for discrimination. In Paris, the Collège Stanislas, a prestigious Catholic school, was at the heart of a scandal when it was accused of fostering homophobic discrimination and enforcing mandatory religious instruction, despite French laws requiring religious education to be optional. Reports revealed that external speakers made degrading remarks on abortion and homosexuality during religious classes, which led to complaints by human rights organizations. This controversy was the beginning of a wider movement in France where other private schools were incriminated, most recently the Betaram scandal involving physical abuse and implicating the Prime Minister.

Public Funds for Private Gain

While private institutions are called private, they in fact, in many European countries, benefit from tax breaks, government funding or voucher programs. While governments often justify this by promoting “school choice,” the reality is that these advantages given to private schools actually divert public funding from state-run schools that need it the most, enhancing the gap between the private and public education systems and between the students. Some countries like Belgium, the Netherlands or Spain allocate public funding to private schools, allowing taxpayer money to support those institutions that select students based on socioeconomic background and religious beliefs.

Sweden’s education system, however, provides a counterexample. The free-school system, that allowed private institutions to receive public funding, was widely criticized for failing to improve educational outcomes. Recently, one of Sweden’s Schools Ministers admitted that the policy had led to increasing segregation and declining academic performances, proving that diverting public funds to private schools weakens rather than improves national education systems.

Defunding private education and redirecting that money to public schools would create a fairer education system for all. EU policies must ensure that public funds are used to improve public education, rather than supporting a parallel system that primarily serves the wealthy.

The Myth of Superior Education

Private education supporters defend the idea that better academic outcomes and innovation are the result of this system. However, researchers have shown that when public education receives adequate funding, it can perform as well, if not better, than private education. Finland, for example, often seen as a global leader in education quality, abolished fee-paying schools in the early 1970s and established a nationwide non-selective school system. Even if some private schools still exist, they are rare and must follow the same rules as public schools to receive public funding. This situation demonstrates that the key to quality education, benefiting everyone, is strong public investment rather than privatization.

In other countries, private schools do not and always comply with constitutional or democratic principles. In Germany, it has been demonstrated through investigations that some private schools violate the German Constitution by selecting students based on wealth while excluding marginalized groups. This highlights the reinforcement of systemic inequalities against fair access to learning opportunities that private schooling fosters.

In many European countries, private institutions are not held to the same level of transparency and accountability as public institutions. It’s the case, for example, in France where it’s possible for a school to not be affiliated with the Ministry of Education. Some of those schools have selective admissions policies that can lead to discrimination and social exclusion. Others promote ideological or religious teaching at the expense of official curriculums, scientific integrity or critical thinking. A real equitable education system should, however, be accessible to all and governed by democratic principles rather than market-driven interests.

A Call for Investment in EU Public Schools

The EU and all European countries have an opportunity to lead by example and become the first totally free education continent by strengthening public education and ensuring quality education is provided to all freely, regardless of their background. By reallocating funds from private institutions to public schools, we could:

• Reduce class sizes and improve the teacher-student ratio.

• Provide modern facilities and update learning materials for all.

• Ensure equal access to knowledge, technology, and digital resources for all.

• Export support services for students needing alternative education methods.

Education should not be and should never have been a privilege for the wealthy but a fundamental right for all human beings. The EU and European countries must take a bold step to ensure education is a first necessity. While the EU is removing defense expenses from debt criteria, what about saying education expenses aren’t a burden on countries but rather an investment in the future that shouldn’t be integrated into debt?

The EU has long championed human rights and social equality. Now is the time to extend these principles to education by defunding private schools and investing in a robust, universally accessible public education system. The future of Europe depends on it.