Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has insisted that his party's pledge to introduce VAT on private schools is key to stopping a rise in classroom violence.
Mr Sarwar, who attended fee-paying Hutchesons' Grammar School, said the "difficult decision" will give more money to state schools, though headteachers have already raised concerns.
An estimated £150m would be raised through the VAT for Scotland's budget, but the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS) has said the additional charge would leave parents with no option but to send their kids to state schools.
Mr Sarwar told The Times: "We’ve decided on balance that it’s fair to remove the exemptions on VAT for private schools, in order to put more resources into our state schools.
"And the reason why that’s really important is we have record levels of violence in our state schools. We have teacher numbers being cut in our state schools, 173 teachers in the last year, in my own home city of Glasgow, you’ve got teachers who are spending their own money to take resources into their classroom."
Private schools across the country are already being forced to increase prices due to a combination of factors, mainly due to inflationary costs.
Some opposition party's have been critical of Labour's plans. The Conservatives claim the policy would "punish" aspirational parents, while Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said he "never though in principal that VAT should be applied to education".
The Greens have said they would remove charitable status from private schools, while John Swinney admitted he was "sympathetic to the points they bring" and "understands where they are coming from".