Private education vs public education

For many parents it is an extremely tough decision when it comes to choosing between either private or public education for their child. Often once a decision has been made hardships are continually faced as there is a great division between those who chose   private education and those who chose public education. There are many factors in which influence a parents decision and there are also many aspects (in the form of benefits and disadvantages) in which come from their decision in regards their child’s education. For parents throughout Australia is has become a recent trend to send their children to private schools (catholic and independent schools) as opposed to public schools, however with results of the 2011 census stating that a large 22% of the total Australian population had no religious conviction, it is hard to believe that this is so.

The Sydney Morning Herald article ‘School Choice is Not Just Keeping the Faith’ issued February 18, 2013, highlights reasons specifically as to whyAustralian parents are choosing either public or private education for their children. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics enrollments into catholic and independent schools in 2012 were increasing by 1.8%, compared to public schools increasing by 1.2%.

Dr Helen Proctor states “It’s one of the greatest paradoxes of Australian education, we’re one of the least-religious nations in the world, yet we have this large and increasing attendance of children in religious schools.'' 

For many parents interviewed throughout this article reasons surrounding their choices for their child’s education included the concepts that ultimately “It’s a trade-off”, many atheist families choose private education for their children for numerous reasons. Many parents believed that it is important for their child to decide upon their own religious beliefs, however send them to private schools (private schools are predominantly religious), reasons provided for this behavior included “public high school... has a poor reputation, particularly where discipline is concerned”, and that children will “perform better academically at a private school”. It is also widely recognized that parents are baptizing their children to ensure the option of private education, this could perhaps be considered an insult to the Catholic church.

From my own experience in private education I feel as though i was entirely satisfied with my quality of education and school environment. I have, however, never attended a public school so as far as comparison through personal experience goes, i am lacking. I however understand and believe that all schools are different and offer different options, I would not be more inclined to send my child to a private school based on the knowledge that it is in fact ‘private’, i feel exactly the same towards public eduction.

REFERENCES 

Tovey. J., Mithcell. G. School Choice is Not Just Keeping the Faith. 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/school-choice-is-not-just-keeping-the-faith-20130217-2el4a.html