Inequity in Australian schools is growing.
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And that gap between the haves and have nots will continue unless there is radical change, according to University of Wollongong educational leadership lecturer Dr Paul Kidson.
Dr Kidson sees merit in a suggestion this week by former NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli to fully fund all non-government private schools.
In an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Piccoli suggested government funding be dependent on non-government schools no longer collecting fees from parents and agreeing to abide by the same enrolment and accountability rules as public schools.
The fully-funded non-government primary private schools would still be run by the same organisations as before, and abide by the same educational philosophy. But no student would be turned away.
Dr Kidson said having an Australian education system based on excellence and equity, was the first goal.
But he argues this is not just a government versus non-government school issue.
"You have got two schools in this area, Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts and Keira High School," he said.
"If you look at their profile, they are right next to each other. But they are very very different.
"You've got a much larger concentration of people who come from low socio-economic backgrounds at Keira, whereas at WHSPA, because 65 per cent of their enrolment is by audition, you've got people who are already coming from all over the Illawarra. So they already come with a range of economic advantage."
Dr Kidson and Mr Piccoli, now head of the UNSW Gonski Institute, are co-authors of a report, along with University of Sydney academic Rachel Wilson and educational consultant Chris Bonnor, documenting the rising inequality in Australian education.
The government can throw more and more money all over the place but it is not going to improve until we address some fundamental inequities that we have in Australian education.
- Dr Paul Kidson
The report, Structural failure: Why Australia's schools keep falling short, is set to be released by the Gonski Institute later this month.
As a former principal of a non-government school for nearly 12 years, Dr Kidson is well-placed to comment.
"The best education systems around the world do not have anything like the sort of segregation that we have in Australian education.
"That is where the stimulus of our research has come from.
"You cannot get excellence until we've got much better equitable outcomes. It's not going to happen."
"The government can throw more and more money all over the place but it is not going to improve until we address some fundamental inequities that we have in Australian education."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
