School Choice

One of the most important decisions a parent can make is deciding which school in which area to enrol their child in. In the journal article ‘Does the amount of school choice matter for student engagement?’ Michael Vaughn and Christopher Witko states that it is clear that parents consider many factors when choosing school such as “particular racial characteristics, religious instruction and proximity to home.” In a Sydney Morning Herald article ‘School choice is not just keeping the faith’, it discusses how many parents’ decisions on where to send their children to be educated is based on reasons other than religion despite the increase in religious school enrolments. Dr Helen Proctor from the University of Sydney says that parents try to choose a “non-public school because they were disaffected with public schools, one way or the other.” Therefore, the popularity of religious schools is increasing. Enrolments in independent and Catholic schools are growing faster than at public schools, by about 1.8 per cent in 2012 compared with 1.2 per cent for public schools, according to recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Almost all private schools in Australia have some religious affiliation. The benefits of a parent choosing to send their child to a private school includes that it has good facilities, good academic results, nice buildings and the cost will be that it’s a bit religious. A Sydney Father mentioned that he had his children get baptised as he believed that it would help them in the future in securing a place at a Catholic high school. He refuses to send his son to their local public boys’ high school as he thinks that the school has a poor reputation and that his son will perform better academically at a private school. Therefore, it can be seen that there is an increasing amount of parents choosing to enrol their children in a private school compared to a public school as they believe that their children will perform better in a private school even if there is a religious aspect to the school. On a forum on whirlpool.net.au a parent was looking for suggestions on where to send her child as she wasn’t content on their local public school in Leichhardt. Although many people commented giving suggestions, one of the comments that seemed the most helpful in my opinion was Tone’s comment “Those are not facts; they are stereotypical opinions of certain people towards public schools. The only thing that matters is the student’s attitude (which is more than likely linked to their parent’s interest in their education) and the teachers at the school- and there is obviously good and bad teachers at any school whether it be public or private.” I agree completely with his comment as a student’s attitude towards education can be more important than the type of school they are in as some students can perform very well even if they are in a public school that has a bad reputation because if they have the mindset of doing well then it can be achieved as teachers will be more than happy to help the student. However, my opinion on school choice is that if parents are financially capable of enrolling their child into a private school then it would be a good decision as overall, the discipline in private schools would generally be stricter than in public schools. Their facilities would be to a high standard as parents pay a huge sum each year and therefore, I think that by being in a private school, a student would try even harder to perform academically well as their parents are spending a lot of money on their education. Therefore, school choice is important as according to Michael Vaughn and Christopher Witko, with more choices, parents have a greater ability to choose a school that matches their needs and preferences which could potentially increase the student’s engagement in school.

 

References

Tovey, J & Mitchell, G., ‘School choice is not just keeping the faith’, Sydney Morning Herald, Last updated February 18 2013, Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/school-choice-is-not-just-keeping-the-faith-20130217-2el4a.html

Vaughn, M.G. & Witko, C., (2012) ‘Does the amount of school choice matter for student engagement?’ The Social Science Journal, pp.23-33.

Whrilpool, ‘Good Public Schools in Sydney’ Last updated January 1 2007, Retrieved from http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/647924