Independent schools in Sydney
Independent schools in Sydney have had an
increase in enrollments since the 1970s. Figures have highlighted that there
has been a 62% in growth in enrollment for independent schools from 1985-2009,
with only a 9% increase in enrollments for government schools. Among the OECD countries, Australia has the largest private school sector (Halse, 2004, Pg 609, Christina Ho, 2011),
Statistics have highlighted that academic
results from students in private schools are much higher than those from public
schools. This has resulted in the withdrawal of students to the private sector
due the lack of confidence in the teaching quality in public schools.
The federal government has also made an
agreement with the Independent Schools Council of Australia to provide
additional funding to private schools. There has been a significant increase in
the amount of funding placed onto private schools despite only 34% of students
enrolled. From 1995-1996, $1.9 million, 57% of total federal funding, was
provided to public schools. This increased to $6.6 million, 65% of total
federal funding, in 2007-2009. This has given private school a “financial edge”
(Halse, 2004) over public schools due in increased federal funding and also the
private schools fees. With the current agreement made with the federal
government, independent schools are set to receive $629 million over the next 6
years.
This movement claims to provide greater
empowerment of schools and greater support for teaching staff. The funding will
also provide independent schools specialist resources to assist with literacy
and numeracy, brighter students and also students with disabilities. This has
correlated to the decisions made by parents to place their children in private
schools due to the demand for quality education, viewing private schools as
more disciplined, valued based and better resourced than public schools. On the
other hand, the rate of increase for funding public schools has been far lower
than the rate of private schools. The achievements of students in public
schools has been continually declining.
This makes me question about what the
federal government wants to do with public schools. Shouldn't education be more
accessible? Private schools are already receive a significant amount of funding
and are also outperforming public schools. Shouldn't the government place more
funding in the public sector to raise the academic standards and provide more
equality for education? The move they are taking leads me to assume that they
have deserted public schools and the majority of the students.
Over funding private schools prevents the
achievement of a strong public education sector that is valued by Australia as
a multicultural society. To achieve a strong public sector with education and
resources that are readily available to all students, I believe that the
government should invest more time and money there instead. With that approach,
there will be more equality and hopefully students in public schools will
achieve greater results.
References
Ho, C. (2011). Respecting the presence of others: School
micropublics and everyday multiculturalism. Journal of Intercultural Studies,
32(6), 603-619.
Hi Antony!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes and yes on your post! It must be questioned as to why independent schools are receiving such a significant amount of funding when there are CLEARLY better off in comparison to hundreds of schools across Australia.
But, in the end, we are aware of the reasons behind such actions by the government, right? Clearly, by spending more money on these private/independent schools, the government is guaranteed to receive more tax and more revenue in such an..."investment".
It is frustrating, as such actions only emphasises the lack of equality AND quality of education within Australia. Sure, more money is given back however, our students in comparison to the rest of the world are lagging behind; it is almost embarrassing to admit it. And the statistics you mentioned in the post too - likewise very disappointing from our country. 62% against 9%?! With such evidence, it is no wonder that many are turning to private facilities for their children!
So, it is evident that our education system is gradually becoming a more market-based system; its sole purpose is to produce batches of future workers in order to stimulate the economy and power our nation. However, with the lack of intelligible personnels in our society, how else will our country stand against the rest of the world, with some who seem to always two steps ahead of us.