‘They don’t all turn out like Ja’mie’

In light of the ABC’s return of our favourite private school satirical character ‘Ja’mie’ I saw it fitting to address the undeniable truths many of us see in such characters.

I recently read an article and what struck me was the title of ‘’ If you send your kids to a private school, you are a bad person’’. The article raised unsupported and extremist statements regarding the inconsistencies of state schools being due to the influx of students in private schools, and they solution for this would be to have all students attend public schools as there would then be equality. Although it’s not as simple as the writer makes it sound like it is, it did get me thinking and raise the question, what are the issues surrounding the discrepancies between private and public schools?

The social impactions that private and public schools implicitly release into society must also be recognized. Where ‘’ Heads of private schools agree that their structure and ethos is designed to instil a sense of entitlement and self-assurance that gives pupils the opportunity to reach the top in whichever field of endeavour they choose’’ (Hannah 2010, p10). That through the privileges that private schools provide, students of state schools therefore may feel robbed or be limited to opportunity in academic and also societal progression.

Earlier today I debated with another student regarding every students right to government funded education. As education is a fundamental right, funding is therefore essential to all, and that just because a student pays more by going to a private school that should not mean the government should ease its funds. The reality is, however, is this a fair way to treat students born into a low socio-economic status who cant afford the best education. Is their fundamental right to education downplayed and inflated by the fact that other students have a more privileged education experience because they have the money to? Wait a minute, isn’t this what the Gonski reform is all about?

An article published on the Sydney Morning Herald titled ‘’Abbott must make school education reform a priority’’ explores the issues of the Gonski reform, where it relied on standardized examinations such as NAPLAN to determine who needs the governments help. Clearly this poses as an issue, as just because students do well in literacy and numeracy, that does not indicate that the school is fairly funded and doing fine. The circumstances of students and the school socially and financially must be taken into account when it comes to government funding, and that is what I believe to portray the fact that a schools privilege is not determined by it academic standing or whether it is private or public. I attended a private school where only a few students would make it to university each year, where resources were limited and quality was lacking. Evidently, the issues of private vs state schools is merely an issue of complacency. Where the bar is equaled as funding to non- government schools is doubled to that of private schools.

References

Author Unknown 2013. Sydney Morning herald Homepage. Available from < http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/abbott-must-make-school-education-reform-a-priority-20131014-2vikg.html> 25^th October 2013.

Benedikt, A. Slate Homepage. Available from < http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/private_school_vs_public_school_only_bad_people_send_their_kids_to_private.html> 24^th October 2013.

Hannah, F 2010, ‘The ruling classes’, The Times Educational Supplement, no. 4898.