Private schools given a boost
By Marina Cameron
Federal legislation passed in December abolished the new schools policy, which restricted the number of new federally funded non-government schools and the size of their federal grants, and set minimum and maximum enrolment limits.
So far this year, 93 private schools (new and existing) have had funding applications approved, compared to just 43 in 1996. The Australian Education Union claims this confirms its fear that small private schools will proliferate at the expense of public schools.
This will accelerate the shift in enrolments towards the private system caused by federal and state governments' funding cuts.
As more students shift, the quality of public education will deteriorate. Measures introduced by the Liberals last year strip $1712 from current government school grants for each new student enrolling in a non-government school.
Some of the new schools have as few as seven students, while state schools are being forced to close down because they are “too small”. Bulla Primary in Melbourne was closed at the end of last year with just 40 students. The Sunbury Christian Community School opened this year, with government funding, on the same site and with only 21 students.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, minister for schools David Kemp described the growth in private schools as an example of parents exercising choice, and argued that competition will push up the quality of all education.
Resistance national coordinator Sean Healy told Green Left, “The Liberals are lying. Competition does not produce efficiency and quality. The scrapping of laws designed to regulate where and what sort of schools are being set up means less overall efficiency in the provision of education through the growth of smaller schools.
“As for choice and quality, they are available only to the rich. The new legislation is being bought in amid massive government cuts to public services such as education. In the future, this may result in whole communities -- particularly poorer or isolated ones -- being left without adequate access to education.”
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