Australian primary private schools should be fully funded by governments — but banned from charging fees (original) (raw)

Australia should follow Chile’s lead and stop funding private schools (2015)

Australia is one of the very few countries in the OECD that publicly funds private schools. More than 40% of Australian secondary children now attend private schools - either so-called independent or religious schools. Australia has one of the most privatised school systems in the OECD. Prior to 1972 no private schools received any government funding whatsoever in this country. While most OECD countries have a private school system, very few of them receive public funding. Think about England, the home of the elite private school, and the exclusive private schools in the USA: not one cent of taxpayer’s money goes into their budgets.

The UK Labour Party wants to abolish private schools - could we do that in Australia?

2019

The UK's Labour Party recently voted in a policy to effectively abolish private schools and integrate them into the state system. This is a courageous move designed to redress social inequity-many of those working in the top levels of the UK government were educated in private schools. Two of Britain's three most recent prime ministers went to the prestigious Eton College, which charges annual fees of more than £40,000. The UK opposition party's plan will likely warm the hearts of similarly minded Australians. Many of the same arguments about educational inequality have been floated in Australia. Many individuals and organisations have also, for years, been calling for the government to stop funding nongovernment schools. But implementing a policy in Australia like that proposed in the UK would prove very difficult. For one thing, it's a matter of numbers. Only 5% of the United Kingdom's students go to a private school. The challenges are magnified in Australia where nearly 15% of students are enrolled in independent schools and nearly 20% in Catholic parish schools. But beyond that, Australia's complex set of school governance structures would make such a move very unlikely to succeed.

Private funding in Australian public schools: a problem of equity

The Australian Educational Researcher

In Australia, debates around school funding tend to focus on comparisons of funding between school systems and what this means for equity. In this paper, while we look at school-level funding between systems, our emphasis is on private funding in public schools with a particular emphasis on the relationship between private funding and ICSEA. Using data provided by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, we present a series of analyses that document the current funding arrangements of Australian schools. In particular, we focus on how private income and parental contributions are mediated by sector (Government, Catholic and Independent), system (States and Territories) and educational advantage. These analyses show that government schools are generating notable private funding per student with the majority coming from parental fees, charges and other contributions. We further demonstrate that these private contributions advantage may exacerbate inequalities within public systems across Australia.

Australian Education Union submission to the review of funding for schooling

2011

There is an historic opportunity to reform our school funding arrangements and a school funding system which is one of the most complex, opaque and confusing in the developed world, argues this submission. This submission provides further evidence to the Review of Funding for Schooling in response to the key areas outlined in the December Emerging Issues Paper: equity of educational outcomes; recurrent funding; capital funding; targeted and needs‐based funding including funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students; support for students with special needs and students with disability; governance and leadership; and community and family engagement. This submission will argue that the current system is not fair; not equitable; not simple; not transparent; not value for money; not best practice; not evidence‐based; not sustainable; and not an ‘efficient’ expenditure of public money. The level of government funding, both State/Territory and Federal, is neither adequate to m...

Secondary school fee inflation: an analysis of private high schools in Victoria, Australia

Education Economics, 2017

Over the past decade the private high school sector has been growing in many developed nations. In Australia this sector has grown faster than in any other OECD nation. This has occurred while Australian private secondary school tuition fees have been increasing at a rate that is double the overall rate of inflation. However, this increase has been uneven across different school types. Specifically we find that quality has fallen in the private schools that cater to students from lower socioeconomic homes and that the rate of increase in fees for these schools appears to follow the business cycle.

Inequity in the Australian Education System

This article deals with the current situation of the Australian education system- particularly the public schools in disadvantaged areas. Research undertaken in the last decade show that while Australia has developed intensively in economic terms in the last ten years, inequality has spread nonetheless. Furthermore, there are legal barriers for public schools in obtaining funds unlike private schools. The article aims to assure the policymakers that pumping more funds into the system would not be as effective as investing in to create a caring community through motivated and well-resourced teachers.