Staggering increase in private school enrolments compared with public sector
Evidence of a “public system that is being left to rot” has been laid bare in a new report on enrolment numbers in Australian schools.
School Life
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Private schools have trumped their public counterpart in enrolment numbers over the past five years, sparking debate about a “public system that is being left to rot”.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released on Monday reported an increase of 45,008 students being enrolled into Australian schools in 2024 compared with 2023.
And 39,589 of these students went into private schools, with only 5419 enrolled in the public sector.
Between 2023 and 2024 there were 4.1 million kids enrolled in the Aussie school system, with 63.4 per cent into government schools, 19.9 per cent into Catholic schools and 16.8 per cent into independent schools.
During the five years to 2024, total student enrolments increased by 4.6 per cent, and of this, independent schools had the largest increase at 18.5 per cent, followed by Catholic schools with 6.6 per cent and government schools with 1 per cent.
The government’s funding of the schooling system has been called into question, with Greens education spokeswoman Penny Allman-Payne saying the underfunding of government schools had “catastrophic consequences”.
“We shouldn’t sugar coat it. We are at risk of a full-blown flight of parents and kids out of a public system that is being left to rot while money pours into the pockets or the richest private schools,” Ms Allman-Payne said.
The so-called “flight” from the public education system is demonstrated by the vast differences in enrolment numbers in the government versus non-government education sectors.
In the last year, government primary school numbers fell by 4312 students, whereas non-government primary school numbers soared by 14,171 more students.
There were 9731 more students enrolled in government secondary schools, and 25,418 more in private institutions.
A Productivity Commission report highlights the disparity in school funding, with findings showing private schools received 1.22 times more funding per student than the public sector over the course of a decade.
“(It is a) deeply inequitable system in terms of how funding is distributed,” Australian Education Union (AEU) federal president Correna Haythorpe said.
“The gap in funding between public schools and private schools is increasing, with government spending in private schools outpacing government funding for public schools by 22 per cent over the last decade.”
However, Association of Independent Schools of NSW chief executive Margery Evans said the AEU had “misrepresented” the figures.
“The AEU has yet again misrepresented the data in an attempt to suggest that non-government schools receive more public funding than their government school counterparts,” Ms Evans said.
“The significant increase in independent school enrolments shows more families are choosing non-government schools despite misleading claims over school funding.”
Originally published as Staggering increase in private school enrolments compared with public sector
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