State school asks parents to pay £600 for IT lessons

An investigation was launched yesterday into a deal between a state primary school and a commercial tutorial college that would see parents charged £600 for their children's tuition in school hours.

Tutors from Ryde College, near Watford in Hertfordshire, have agreed to prepare 20 nine and 10-year-olds at Lea Junior Primary School in Slough, Berkshire, for GCSEs in information technology – charging parents £600.

It is believed to be the first time that staff from a commercial education firm have charged for teaching in a state school during school hours.

Slough Borough Council announced it would investigate the deal, while a teachers' union said charging the parents of state school pupils threatened the principle of free education.

A council spokesman said: "It is not the policy of the local education authority to charge pupils for lessons held in school time. Schools can make their own arrangements for extra-curricular activities. The local education authority does not support charging pupils and we will be investigating the situation."

Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said: "Surely this undermines the principle of access to education for all youngsters?

"If such courses become more widespread, it could threaten one of the great bulwarks of the state education service – access for all."

Ryde College is well known for getting young children through GCSE exams. This summer a six-year-old Ryde pupil, Geetha Thaninathan, became the youngest girl to pass a GCSE. It has already run courses for state school pupils – but until now its lessons have always been conducted out of school hours.

This summer, 13 pupils from three schools in the London borough of Waltham Forest passed GCSE information technology after studying for seven months outside normal school hours. The Lea Junior school pupils will study the IT GCSE course across 12 months and take the exam next summer.

The course, which uses accelerated learning techniques developed by the college's founder, Dr Ronald Ryde, costs £1,200 per pupil, of which the parents pay half, Mike Ryde, the college managing director, said.

Mr Ryde said he hoped to strike more deals with state schools in future. "Kids can achieve a lot more if you give them half a chance," he said.