Public education’s share of enrolments declining

By Sue Simpson

Federation's three-day annual conference, attended by 600 teachers from schools and TAFE colleges around the state, enabled membership reflection and debate on how the union can best promote the values of public education and the work of public education teachers.

We face a difficult task.

Public education has a declining share of student enrolments - around 67 per cent of all enrolments in NSW. The drift is particularly marked at the year 6 and year 7 transition to high school where one in eight students are being lost to private education.

The biggest growth in private school enrolments is in traditional working class areas in the western suburbs with Blacktown district showing the highest growth in private school enrolments.

The public education system is already the residual system for secondary school students in some parts of Sydney. From 1996 census figures, the Premier's own electorate of Maroubra had only 46.4 per cent of secondary students attending public schools and only 54 per cent of primary students attending public primary schools. The situation has only worsened since then.

The consequence of declining enrolments is low teacher and student morale and a more divided society. What do we do about this? First we have to understand what is driving this.

Funding policies of both the Howard and Carr Governments have made private education more affordable. Private school funding has provided a slush fund to woo sectional interests. This has coincided with changes in Australian society. For parents used to paying for childcare, the cost of a private school education is now not such a shock.

Paying for a private education has acquired a certain social cachet for the so-called "aspirational" class living in marginal electorates. Whereas once someone may have enhanced family status by going to university, this has now been replaced by private school education. Social commentators suggest that we are seeking to mix with people with whom we share special interests or with whom we feel protected rather than a broad cross section of the community. This would seem to translate into a preference for the more closed world of private schools over the community and openness of public schools. Some parents have justified decisions to send their children at ever earlier ages to private schools in order to get instilled with "moral" values that their busy and secular lives do not have time for. For other parents private schools seem to offer protection from violence, schoolyard bullies and academic failure. Others it's just plain snobbery and access to old boys' and girls' networks.

And there is always the question of perceptions of public schools. Our employers on performance contracts too often deny the problems schools face. It is often left to Federation to publicly expose deficiencies to force action over cleaning and maintenance standards, support for students with learning difficulties and violence in schools. Because we cannot rely on our employer to support us and because we do not have "mates" within the Government, being public in the media has been our way of getting attention. Unfortunately this public campaigning feeds poor public images.

Yet loyalty to public education is still very high. Public schools still educate the majority of Australia's students. High quality public schools are a sign of a civilised, egalitarian society and a safety net even for those who do not attend them or do so only in the early years of schooling. TAFE is still the dominant provider of vocational education.

Annual Conference decided Federation needed to test out the validity of the statements I have asserted in this column in order to make sure that our campaigning for public education resonates with the community and politicians. Conference reaffirmed that the best way to promote and defend public education lies in partnerships with parents and community organisations and continued lobbying of politicians.

Conference saw the launch of the Public Education Fund. Full-time permanent teachers will be paying this year $17 of the annual membership fee into the Public Education Fund. The fund will provide the Federation with about $1 million a year to pay for positive media and other promotions of public education.

The Carr Government- Questioning the expansion of private schools

Our campaigning has so far had the effect that NSW is the only state that has dared to take on the wealthiest private schools over the EBA (Enrolment Benchmark Adjustment). This is despite the predictably strong response from the private school lobby who organised meetings around the state attended by hundreds of parents.

The Carr Government has just announced an inquiry into the registration, accreditation, accountability, funding and teaching standards in new independent private schools. The inquiry's terms of reference, who will conduct it and when it will take place have not yet been announced. It will not impact on "established" private schools. Nevertheless, it could prove to be the first step towards tightening up registration requirements so that "garage" schools in substandard accommodation and without the full quota of qualified teachers would be denied taxpayer funding.

Federation welcomes the inquiry. It is a vindication of our efforts to defend public education.

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