'We are not Eton': The private faith schools facing closure over VAT changes
ITV News reporter Mahatir Pasha speaks to faith schools facing closure over VAT charges
"We are not Eton!" Mohammed Farid Chowdhury proclaims as he shows us around his Islamic faith school in east London.
"The Government will have everyone believe it's targeting the rich to better the poor, but the families which depend on our school are not rich!"
Chowdhury is the Chair of the board of Governors at Darul Hadis Latifiah. His school, like all private schools has been hit with VAT from the new year, a move he believes is unfair.
"I just cannot understand why they would treat schools like ours as if we're elite - we have so much to lose. Our parents are largely working class, scrimping and saving by whatever means necessary to send their boys here."
The average yearly fee to attend a private Islamic faith school in the country is £3000. Indeed, that is significantly less than some of the nation's most elite private schools. Eton College - which has a reputation for producing Prime Ministers and world leaders - charges up to £52,749 as a yearly fee.
And yet, Darul Hadis Latifiah and Eton will be expected to pay the same level of value-added tax with the Labour government's reforms.
Co-Headteacher Maruf Ahmed - who himself was a student here - points out that Darul Hadis is funded entirely by fees and community donations and is rated Outstanding by the schools regulator, Ofsted, on a number of metrics. He told ITV News, "Our school has been a pillar for the community for many decades," and the imposition of VAT risks "crippling" it.
Maruf Ahmed, Co-Headteacher at Darul Hadis Latifiahm, says the faith school industry could be crippled by the new VAT policy.
The school says it has no choice but to pass the extra cost directly onto parents.
17-year-old Safwaan Jahan is one of the institution's star pupils. His academic excellence recently won him an award. He still has three years of study left here, but this is now at risk.
Back home - Safwaan's widowed mother who left work to raise him - is agonising about where she'll find the extra money.
"The school plays a vital role in his life. I can't make cuts on my bills or my mortgage, but I may have to make cuts on my son's education," Rehanaz Noor tells me, which would be "devastating for his life."
Rehanaz Noor fears her son Safwaan's education is at risk.
The Government's decision on VAT will cause more pain on some schools and families than others.
The Independent Schools Council (ISC) says there are some 1000 private schools around England with a 'religious ethos or character' - educating over 370,000 pupils.
The Association of Muslim Schools (AMS) is warning the change in tax policy could make up to 75% of private Islamic faith schools "financially unviable".
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A group of organisations representing faith schools, including Christian, Jewish and Muslim industry bodies has appealed to the Government for a tax exemption.
They estimate an exemption for low-fee private faith schools will only cost the Treasury £32 million - just 2.1% of the £1.5 billion that VAT on schools in approximated to raise.
They also say the average yearly cost for the taxpayer to educate one pupil is around £7,690, arguing even if a small percentage of the 54,000 pupils affected by the new VAT rules, were to move to state schools, the additional cost to the government could wipe out any financial gain.
Julie Robinson, Chief Executive of Independent Schools Council says she is worried about the loss of diversity in education that the VAT policy could cause.
Unfortunately for this group, the Government appears to show no sign of backtracking on its VAT policy on private schools.
When we put these findings to the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, she dismissed them as "scaremongering" and "bogus data" from "private school lobby groups".
"We've had a lot of scaremongering and bogus data from private school lobby groups over a number of years. We announced this policy some years ago, ahead of the election, we'd always been clear it was our intention to make this change," she said.
Adding, "I'm afraid there won't be any exemptions in this area because we have to raise money to invest in the state sector."
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson say exemptions won't be made for faith schools.
For Bnos Beis Yakov, a strictly Jewish School in north-west London though, the impact of VAT is very real.
Its Chairman fears the school - which educates 125 girls - will collapse by March this year if there's no change to the tax roll-out.
Zvi Sobel told ITV News, "This one is a deal breaker, I cannot see a way round it."
He stressed the importance of faith based education for the Charedi Jewish community and fears for what will happen to his pupils in the event of his school closing.
"It's heartbreaking, it breaks my heart, I cannot tell you how hard we've worked to get where we are," Sobel said.
Zvi Sobel, Chairman of Bnos Beis Yakov, says the VAT rollout is a "deal breaker" for the school.
As the government says it is focusing on the state education sector, schools like these are wondering if they'll have a future.
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