Canberra's public schools are clawing back
enrolments from the non-government sector at a rate almost three times the
national average after years of fightback against private high schools who once
boasted the majority share.
More than 60 per cent of all ACT students were
enrolled in a government school in February this year with the remaining split
almost evenly between the Catholic and independent systems.
In high schools, 51.7 per cent of students were
in the public system and about 48 per cent in the non-government sector.
Private schools educated more than half the ACT's secondary students between
2011 and 2014 but the public system won a slight majority in 2015.
The Association of Independent Schools of the
ACT said minimal growth in non-government schools - 3.23 per cent since 2013
and .59 per cent between February 2016 and the same time this year - is
evidence of schools nearing or reaching capacity.
Overall public school enrolments grew by 13.8
per cent in the past five years and 3.85 per cent since 2016.
University of Canberra education policy
researcher Louise Watson said it was impossible to pinpoint why government
schools were gaining ground on their non-government counterparts but noted it
was indicative of a national trend.
The 2016 national data from the Australian
Bureau of Statistics showed government schools had 65.4 per cent of the
enrolment share, followed by Catholic schools (20.2 per cent) and independents
(14.4 per cent).
Professor Watson listed the Royal Commission
into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, salaried wages being
incompatible with high fees and transparent data about school outcomes on the
My School website as potential reasons why parents were choosing the public
system.
"The ACT rate of change is almost three
times the national level," she said.
"Government school primary enrolments in
the ACT have increased 23 per cent over the last five years, which is
extraordinary.
"All schools have been operating in an
environment of school choice for 10 or 20 years now and government schools are
clearly attractive to parents."
Association of Independent Schools of the ACT
executive director Andrew Wrigley said he did not believe the data meant
parents were shifting from non-government schools. Canberra Christian School,
for example, recorded a 42 per cent increase in enrolments.
"The data reflects a situation that has
been emerging for the last few years: that is, while there are certainly some
spaces available in some year groups in some schools, independent schools are
generally running at close to capacity in terms of enrolments," he said.
"Anecdotally, waiting lists are healthy,
and parents are keen to actively choose independent schools for their children
for a wide variety of reasons."
Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra and
Goulburn director Ross Fox said enrolments were largely driven by demographics
and said he did not believe the Royal Commission had an impact on student
numbers.
Fourteen out of 29 Catholic schools noted a
decline in enrolments, including a drop of 14 per cent at Sts Peter and Paul
Primary School, but the sector's newest ACT school, St John Paul II College,
saw enrolments increase 34.6 per cent after introducing a Year 11 stream.
"The biggest issue for Catholic education
and growth in enrolments in the ACT is accessing land for a school at Molonglo
to service parents and families in growing areas of Canberra," Mr Fox
said.
Gonski was funded by the Gillard Government
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