The story behind the creation of CIPL

At the return to school in September 2024, the LFCG parent community was focused on a single topic – the imposition of a 20% VAT on school fees. Overnight, this would cause the already-skyrocketing fees at LFCG to become unaffordable to many parents.

In September 2024, an LFCG parent approached Vinay, a founder of CIPL, to help her prepare for her upcoming meeting with PM Keir Starmer. She was keen to convey our collective concerns about the imposition of VAT. Vinay and the parent were both APL parent representatives and had worked together the year before. 

Vinay suggested an AEFE-wide petition. Within 48 hours, the petition gathered over 4,000 signatures and was handed over to the PM by the parent. Our collective concerns had been communicated to someone with the power to change the outcome.

Soon after, an APL committee member discussed with Vinay the idea of creating a WhatsApp community where LFCG parents could discuss freely and openly their shared concerns and ideas. 

This led to the creation of an independent WhatsApp community that today counts over 800 LFCG parents and over 15 channels, each on a specific topic. Parents are free to propose and administer new channels.

Through the various discussions in the community, it soon became clear that many parents supported the creation of a second parents’ organisation, one that had at its heart the faithful representation of parents and their concerns with the objective of driving constructive change.

And so, the CIPL was born. 

The CIPL is for the parents, of the parents, and by the parents of LFCG.