JOHN Edwards (Letters, November 17) seeks to defend the receipt of charitable status by Scottish independent schools on the grounds of their "positive economic impact".
I've no wish to engage in mind-numbing debate about the selective use of economic statistics, so would simply point out that the Oxford Dictionary definition of a charity is "an institution for helping those in need." Since this is manifestly not the case for the majority of Scottish independent schools, it seems to me that granting them charitable status is just intellectually dishonest.
Most independent, fee-paying schools provide favoured access to positions of wealth and power for a privileged minority and are therefore a major stumbling block to the achievement of social justice. I'm all in favour of allowing communities and educational pioneers to set up well-regulated independent schools with adequate support from public funds; but I believe that an essential criterion for a prosperous (as opposed to merely wealthy) society is that high-quality education should be equally and freely available to all.
Colin Weatherley,
8 The Paddock, Gullane.
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