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State schools must face up to brain drain. An opinion piece by Adele Horin Even at primary level, more and more parents are opting for private education,writes Adele Horin. It's crunch time for state primary schools. They are losing children to the private schools at a faster rate than ever before. The exodus of many middle-class students from state high schools is an old story. But most parents have stayed loyal to the state primary schools - happy enough, it seemed, with the teaching, the values, the discipline and the pastoral care. Times are changing. Parents feel under increasing pressure to give their children a head start in the race to the UAI. Many expect more academic rigour from primary schools. You can call these parents pushy, and some teachers do. But that is a mistake. Many simply want to give their children the same opportunities they enjoyed - to do an arts course at university, to become a physiotherapist or a journalist, or even a lawyer. But the competition is cutthroat now, with more children finishing school and going to university. And one mark, the UAI, still determines access. The bar is higher. The ground has shifted but primary education, to a large extent, has not. The pressure begins in year 4 or 5, when many parents become fixated on finding a route through to OC classes, selective high schools or scholarships. And so the drift to the private schools is starting earlier, and it is accelerating in NSW, according to the National Report on Schooling. In 1991, 74.1 per cent of primary-aged students in NSW were in state schools. By 2000, this had fallen to 72.5 per cent. The 1.6 per cent drop might not sound calamitous but the trend is significant. Additionally, the figures mask big geographic and class differences. In some areas of Sydney, an Education Department bureaucrat told me, the drift to non-government schools at primary level is faster than at secondary school. The shift has been particularly evident since 1996. As the bureaucrat said: "When you lose kids at kindy, you usually lose them for 13 years." The trend can't be ignored. The big move to private schools used to happen in years 10 and 11 - and it still does. Then another lot leave in Year 7. But a noticeable trend is for children to move to a private school for the last two years of primary school. And in affluent suburbs, some state schools have trouble filling their kindergarten. Private schools tell parents children who attend at primary level are given priority for a place in high school. Some have opened preschools to forge an attachment with the family even earlier. The drift to non-government high schools was also slow but steady, at 0.25 per cent a year since 1973. But the eventual effects have been corrosive. Suddenly, many state high schools found themselves without a critical mass of middle-class students. Now by years 11 and 12, only 50 percent of the state's students are in government high schools. With so many people fixated on UAI rankings, the loss of bright students from the state system makes it hard to reverse the trend once it gets to a critical point. And that's why the Government and teachers should pull out all stops now to bolster the standing - and standard - of primary school education. Before it is too late. The Herald revealed this week that one-third of all kindergarten classes were overcrowded last year, exceeding the preferred government standard of 26 students. And 20 per cent of all classes in each of the first three years of primary school were over the government limit. This should be a wake-up call. Class size matters. Professor Tony Vinson, who is heading an inquiry into public education, said research suggested smaller classes could affect student behaviour, numeracy and literacy. Class size is a funding issue. But state primary schools also need to respond to the new realities that regrettably face parents and students. Parents want more than "back to basics". They want children to be academically challenged. And this surely applies to children of all abilities. Academic achievement is not the message we hear from state education authorities. So far, many parents have responded to the new competition by hiring private tutors. Only a minority can afford 13 years of private education. But more are making the sacrifice in the belief their money is well spent. After all, many are used to paying thousands a year in child-care fees. State primary schools can't afford to lose middle-class parents or become repositories of basic education. Kids from poorer families, more than anyone, need the most rigorous and challenging primary schooling. It's where the stage is set for life. Their parents can't afford the tutors, the private school preschools, and the rest of the armoury now employed to give kids choices many of us once took for granted. Back to "Viewpoints" Main Menu goto CMS homepage www.marketingschools.net |