You’re thinking of sending your child to school in Australia for a world-class education, to become articulate in English language, and go see the world, so to speak, would it be alright to enrol him or her in a public school?
Let’s face it, if money is no object to every parent, we will all probably be sending our kids to private schools. But the reality is it’s not the case for most of us. So, like in economics wherein there’s always a need to allocate scarce or limited resources, parents need to evaluate their preference, set their goal for their child’s education, and match them with the available options.
To help us do just that let’s dive in to a comparison of Australian private and public schools (note: schools in Australia refers to primary and secondary schools).
Difference between Australian private and public schools
Australian private schools generally enjoy better infrastructure and facilities than their public school counterparts. The more expensive and exclusive the private school is the truer this becomes. For example, some elite private schools charging top dollars in tuition fees a year would probably have Olympic-sized swimming pools, perhaps a driving range and equestrian facilities, expansive well-manicured grounds, well-equipped laboratories, music, arts, and sports facilities, etc. Having said that however, Australian public schools are not necessarily deprived of needed laboratories, arts, music and sports facilities; maybe they’re not just in the same scale or level of what the elite schools enjoy.
Australian private schools tend to have select students because of their fees, admission and disciplinary policies. This is unlike in public schools wherein they generally must accept all students residing within their zone or catchment area. A school’s zone or catchment area is a predefined geographical area surrounding the school.
Australian private schools, also called independent schools, are mostly founded by various Christian denominations such as Roman Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Latter-Day Saints, Presbyterian, Evangelical, etc. A few schools are founded by adherents of certain teaching philosophies like Montessori and Steiner schools, and other religions such as Buddhism and Islam. As such it’s common for these schools to incorporate their values and philosophies into their overall curriculum. Public schools, on the other hand, are purely secular and do not adhere to certain philosophies of teaching like the Montessori or Steiner.
Similarities between Australian private and public schools
Australia has a national curriculum for Foundation to Year 10 school studies that defines the eight key learning areas in:
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Humanities and Social Sciences
- Health and Physical Education
- Languages
- Technologies and
- The Arts
And seven general capabilities in:
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Information and communication technology capability
- Critical and creative thinking
- Personal and social capability
- Intercultural understanding, and
- Ethical understanding
That must be taught in all Australian schools, whether private or public. You may think of it as the minimum or foundational curriculum. Schools differ in the additional subjects or electives they offer, based on their identity, tradition and/or strengths.
Both private and public schools receive funding from the federal (Commonwealth) and their respective state or territory government. Apart from the fees they collect from students, private schools also get funding from the Commonwealth government. They also receive a bit of funding from the state or territory government they are in. Public schools are managed by and mainly funded by their state or territory government, and they also receive some funding from the Commonwealth government. A funding model is used to determine how much money is given to individual schools.
Average full-time teaching staff to student ratio and average classroom size are also about the same between private and public schools. An exception would be the more expensive exclusive private schools which have greater teaching staff to student ratio and a bit lesser average classroom size. Arguably the presence of outstanding teachers and principal bodes well for a school and data shows that both private and public schools are about the same in their ability to attract and retain such people.
Education metrics between private and public schools
NAPLAN, or National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, is a standardised test given in May each year to all Australian school students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students to assess their reading, writing, language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy skills. Students and their parents can compare their score against their school average and the national average to see where they’re at. Through NAPLAN school authorities can monitor an individual student’s learning progress and intervene to help the student if necessary, or further challenge a high performing child. NAPLAN results are used by the school authorities to set goals and evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching programs. Anybody can go to My School website to check a school’s NAPLAN performance and compare it with other similar schools, whether private or public.
According to a Grattan Institute, an Australian public policy think-tank, report published in October 2018 based on the NAPLAN results:
- Students in advantaged schools has slightly better average progress than students in moderately disadvantaged schools. Australian school authorities use a scale called Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) to fairly and reasonably compare schools with similar students. ICSEA considers the student parent’s occupation, educational achievement, etc. The benchmark index is 1000. The higher the index of a school is from the benchmark the higher the advantage that school has, the lower the school’s index is from the benchmark the lower the advantage the school has. The average progress discussed here is defined as the average difference between what the student knows and can do at the end and beginning of a period.
- Adjusted for ICSEA, school size, remoteness (whether in the city or rural areas) and sector (whether private or public) don’t really make a big difference in terms of student progress.
- Some states perform well than others. Primary school students in Queensland make more progress in literacy and numeracy than other primary student across Australia. Economically advantaged students in New South Wales tend to excel further. While their not-so-economically-advantaged counterparts in Victoria tend to make more progress.
- High achieving schools generally make more learning progress than others. A high achieving school is a school achieving high NAPLAN scores, regardless whether they are private or public.
In another article published by The Conversation, they have analysed My School data and Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) results between 2014 and 2018 and found out that, adjusted for ICSEA, students in public schools have similar, or sometimes even better, VCE results than those in private schools. This is consistent with the findings of Grattan Institute above when it noted how students from lower socio-economic background in Victoria are able to make better progress.
The eternal debate about which is better
As we’ve said earlier, assuming money is not an issue by default an overwhelming number of parents would send their kids to the most exclusive private school they can. But since the reality for most parents is not so the debate rages on in Australia between believers of the private school sector on one side and supporters of the public sector on the other side. Some parents like the availability of wide range of subjects and extra-curricular activities, the fit with their beliefs, how they can count on their school to provide tailored teaching and individualised attention to their kids as examples as to why private schools are better. And yes, of course, they like the exclusivity of their private school.
Proponents of the public school system meanwhile argue that their kid’s experience interacting with kids from different backgrounds, sort of a microcosm of the community or society, helps them become grounded and well-rounded people. Yes, this can also be a 2-edge sword in that it can also mean the chances of your kids encountering meanies or bullies. But they add that policies and continuing education exist in every school on the unacceptability of such behavior anyway. And then of course, they are quick to point out that in terms of academic achievement many empirical data exist showing educational outcomes in public schools can be as high as that of the private schools.
Our two cents
Sending your child to study overseas in Australia, your educational goal is important and should be non-negotiable. You want to have the best educational outcome for your child. You want them to be in the best possible position to pursue higher studies later, to develop their strengths and improve on their weaknesses, be more capable, be more mature and responsible individuals. Also, we all have preference. We are happy and satisfied when we get our preference. It’s ok to have preference (and choices). It’s one of the things that make the world go round.
If the cost is the least of your concerns, go ahead and apply your child for admission to the most exclusive private schools in Australia that you can. If you’re in this position, chances are you already know what to expect and you simply want the same top level of experience for you child. Some of us are ingrained with the value we attach to private schooling. It’s not wrong. Note that in Australia not all private schools are the same. Generally, the higher the level of exclusivity the higher their fees go. If you’re Catholic and would prefer a Catholic education for your child, you’ll be glad to know that Catholic schools in Australia are quite affordable in so far as private school cost goes. Then there are the mid-tier private schools that are slightly more costly than Catholic schools. Then there are the more exclusive private schools. And on top are the real elite private schools that probably charge at least 30 grand a year per child. These schools offer best possible educational outcome for their students in bespoke, luxurious settings. Chances are they will be in company of, and making lifelong friends with, their fellows as well, if this is important to you.
If your resources are not on the same league but you still have on sight the best possible educational outcome for your child, no worries. There are Australian public schools classified as selective, or semi-selective, schools. They are high achieving public schools and they are your best option. All Australian states and territories (except Northern Territory) have selective public schools. Remember the public school’s zone or catchment area we’ve talked about earlier? Selective public schools don’t have the same obligation to enrol anyone just because they live close by. Rather they admit students solely based on academic criteria. Each year a whole batch of students wishing to enroll in a selective public school sit an exam. Then they are ranked according to the result of the exam. The schools basically pick from those on the top for admission. Note that there are also selective schools not based on academics but on talents and abilities like in performing and visual arts, music or sports. Semi-selective schools are schools who select students based on academic ability and partly enrol limited number of students in their catchment area. Selective schools are only in secondary school, there’s no selective primary school
Most states and territories don’t have the same requirement for international students wishing to enrol in selective public schools. Usually an academic record showing strong performance in numeracy and literacy will suffice. The admission criteria can even be on a case-to-case basis sometimes. New South Wales has the greatest number of selective public schools in Australia. Queensland even has several selective public schools that also offer I.B. Diploma Programme. South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia also have outstanding selective public schools.
If your child is in primary school age and you think you can only afford the public primary schools, don’t fret. There are many outstanding public primary schools in Australia where your child can go. As a bonus, there is usually no minimum English requirement for international students enrolling in public primary schools. Please read our discussion on child wishing to study in primary school here.
To wrap it up, if you’re from overseas and thinking of sending your child to school in Australia to get a world-class education, yes, enrolling them to an Australian selective public school is a viable option. Also, it’s important to point out that as international students all your options, whether private or public schools, are, in the first place, already quality-assured to help you achieve the best possible outcomes in your studies. Not all schools can cater to overseas student. Those schools who do have gone (and keep on going) to great lengths in order to comply with stringent government regulations, rules, and standards imposed on education providers offering courses to international students. Sort of saying that your decision to study in Australia is already protected, your choice of which school to study is just the icing on the cake, how high and far you go is up to you.
