A survey conducted by the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation (ABC) has shown that Australian parents believe that they get better outcomes for their children with private schools than public schools.
The Australia Talks National Survey 2021 collected data from 60,000 Australian parents from the public and private sectors, with the private sector being broken down into schools with and without religious affiliations.
The findings show that parents at non-denominational private schools are most satisfied with their child’s education at 92 percent, followed by non-Catholic religious schools (91 percent) and Catholic sector schools (85 percent).
The survey also spots a similar pattern when estimating parents satisfaction with teachers: 94 percent were satisfied at non-denominational private schools, 93 percent at non-Catholic religious schools, 87 percent in the Catholic sector and 82 percent in the public sector.
The findings were mirrored by data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which found independent schools are growing in popularity in Australia.
The number of people who prefer to send their kids to private or Catholic schools has also doubled over the last 30 years, with now 35 percent of Australian parents choosing the private option.
“Independent school offers a much more bespoke education,” Sharon Leifer, whose three children have attended private school, told The Guardian, “They can be accelerated, they can get extra help, it’s not done on norms, it’s done on each individual child. And they have high expectations of and for the kids. I wish everybody had that choice.”
“We found that at public school if you’re in the middle, the quiet kid at the back, if you’re not doing anything [disruptive], you can pretty much go unnoticed,” she said.
