The Guardian 30 April, 2008
Victoria’s education system:
back to Victorian days?
Anna Pha
In 1872, the Victorian government established Australia’s first Education Department and introduced free, compulsory and secular education for children. The new Education Department became the employer of government teachers and state aid to denominational schools ceased in 1874. For over 100 years the state maintained free, compulsory and secular schooling along with centralised employment of teachers. The public education system grew and gained a high reputation for providing all-comers with a free, high quality education.
Prior to 1872, there was a Denominational School Board covering religious schools and a Board of Education providing government-sponsored secular education. The changes were brought about by growing dissatisfaction with state aid to religious schools, the rising cost of administering a dual school system and the need for a better educated workforce.
Over the past three to four decades religious and other private schools have become heavily dependent on state aid which had been reintroduced. Huge federal government subsidies have encouraged and funded the proliferation of religious fundamentalist and other non-state schools, some with only a handful of students.
The private education system — often referred to as Catholic and independent schools — is highly dependent on state aid. The majority of them would be unsustainable without the millions of dollars they receive from taxpayers. Many would never have got off the ground without government funding.
While obliged by law to teach secular subjects as found in a standard curriculum, they are free to teach creationism, and whatever other fundamentalist or sect teachings they choose. In years 11 and 12, they are not even obliged to teach secular subjects.
Public schools have been starved of funds with millions of dollars meant for the public sector being transferred to subsidise private schools and to assist with the establishment of new, fundamentalist schools with narrow curricula and little or no public accountability as to how they spend that money.
Teachers in the public system battle to maintain quality education in extremely difficult conditions. In recent decades, "voluntary" fees from $100-$200 and upwards have crept into state schools. They increasingly rely on funding from external sources such as parent fund-raising to pay for core things as against add-ons as in the past. These include basic materials and even teachers themselves.
Not surprisingly some state schools fare better than others, a great deal depending on the socio-economic background of their students, the number of non-English speaking students and problem students that they accept (including those thrown out of private schools). Those in wealthier suburbs with a higher capacity to raise funds may raise $40,000 per annum, while in highly disadvantaged communities it might only be a few thousand.
The former Kennett Liberal government in Victoria transferred the selection of teachers and principals to the school, but did not decentralise their employment. School councils are now responsible for school budgets, including other staff, maintenance and resources. In NSW the state government is attempting to decentralise the actual employment of teachers (not just selection), a policy which was on the agenda for a while in Victoria and could easily resurface.
The trend in funding, budgeting and staffing of state schools is towards creating schools that virtually operate on an independent basis, much along the same lines as church and independent schools. School councils will end up carrying out similar functions to the boards that run private schools. If funding trends continue, there will before long be no difference between the funding allocated to state and private schools. The choice for parents would be secular or non-secular education and how much to pay in fees. Elite state schools could charge higher fees — as some do already.
Victorian Education Minister Bronwyn Pike recently told The Age newspaper the government is considering how to bring Catholic schools into "partnerships" with state schools and have Catholic and state schools share joint facilities and adopt other co-operative arrangements. In their operation and funding the boundaries are being blurred between state and church schools.
Pike is considering school infrastructure, student welfare and funding of the schools. This is not the first talk of closer ties between the private and public education systems in Victoria. The federal government already gives more funding to private schools than public ones, despite the fact the public system has close to two thirds of the students.
If these developments continue, and they are by no means limited to Victoria or NSW, there will be little left to distinguish state from private in terms of their independence. For how long would the state schools be required to take all-comers? Already selective schools are picking and choosing who they accept. At the federal level the government is seeking to introduce national curriculum in certain core subjects, that would apply to all schools.
Are we headed back to pre-1872 class-based and non-secular schooling?