Public schools in NSW have an image problem. As a parent of children who attend public schools, I know this all too well. I am often looked at with wide-eyed amazement when I reveal that my eldest – who is academic and sporty – attends a comprehensive high school. But the surprise from my revelation seems to subside a little when I add that my son is in a selective stream at a school with an excellent principal and dedicated staff. The school even has a therapy dog. Perhaps our education choice for him isn’t so bad after all.
Aside from endless property chatter, there is nothing more Sydney than discussing either which school you went to, or which school your offspring will attend. As a product of a comprehensive regional school, I have always found this odd. But the longer I spend in the schooling system as a parent, I have come to appreciate parental anxiety a little more.
Prue Car at Fairfield West Public school earlier this year. Credit:
Public schools too often get a bad rap. Violence against teachers, crumbling buildings and classes merged with only minimal supervision. Is there any wonder we get jittery about schooling choices? Unsurprisingly, amid this swirling negativity, enrolments at public schools have been dropping and this is cited as a key reason behind a slashing of schools’ budgets, revealed to principals in an all-staff note earlier this week.
In his message, the head of the Education Department Murat Dizdar (himself a former principal at Punchbowl Boys) said public schools had lost 25,000 students in just four years. The proportion of students fell to 62.9 per cent last year, the lowest share in two decades of reporting. As a result, Dizdar told principals, school budgets would be reduced by 1.25 per cent – about $148 million – and any unspent discretionary funds frozen over the next year.
As well as the cuts, deputy principals will be expected to teach a minimum of one day each week, while head teachers and assistant principals will be in the classroom at least three days a week. The budget cuts, according to Dizdar, came “from necessity” so the state government could ensure effective and efficient funding of public schools that matches enrolments and student needs.
Pessimism around public education has been broadcast for years, and with even more ferocity recently, as the powerful Teachers Federation pushed for a hefty pay rise for its members. To make its case, the union needed to argue that teaching in the public system was increasingly undesirable.
The union, through its wage claim, helped further fuel the fear that state schooling is in crisis at every turn. To be clear, the teacher shortage that it campaigned on so heavily was not confected. At its worst, the public system was short 3000 teachers, which meant classes were cancelled, combined or simply abandoned. Quality education cannot be provided when the teachers do not exist or are leaving in droves.
However, in highlighting the chronic shortage (which was allowed to grow under the former Coalition government) the union also inadvertently managed to paint the public school system as second rate to its far more cashed-up and resourced private competitors. Is there any wonder, then, that there has been a steady drift to the independent sector?
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
visit website
