Fears Brisbane State High School will scrap merit-based entry

A roll call of big names in industry, sport and the arts has gone into bat for Brisbane State High School’s merit entry system after revelations the quota will be cut to 35 per cent of total enrolment.

Former student Duncan Armstrong outside Brisbane State High School. Picture Lachie Millard

A roll call of big names in industry, sport and the arts has gone into bat for Brisbane State High School’s merit entry system after revelations the quota will be cut to 35 per cent of the total enrolment.

Children’s author Jackie French, Tritium CEO Jane Hunter, Olympian Duncan Armstrong, ex-senator Bill O’Chee and Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee chair Andrew Liveris have spoken out about how the merit system had helped shape their careers.

A spokesman for Education Minister Di Farmer meanwhile said she had not discussed the matter with the school or its council as she did not get involved in “operational’’ matters.

The LNP was approached for comment on what it would do about the proposed change, if elected.

Mr Liveris commented after revelations that the merit entry quota was set to decline again after years of being scaled back.

It had been set at 50 per cent for in-catchment students and 50 per cent for merit-based student enrolments, for many years, but the merit quota was cut to 40 per cent several years ago due to ongoing enrolment pressure.

The school council was recently told it would be cut again, to 35 per cent, from term 1 in 2025.

Andrew Liveris. Picture: Brendan Radke

“My family and I resided in the local catchment, however I also was admitted based on academic merit,’’ Mr Liveris said.

“I acknowledge the value of the merit-based system through my own personal experience and that it is an essential part of Brisbane State High School’s model for success, which has produced highly capable students for more than 100 years.’'

Jane Hunter, the CEO of innovative battery manufacturer Tritium, said in a country where private schools had such a huge advantage, merit-based elite schools were very important.

“Merit-based state high schools exist in every capital city in Australia and they have allowed gifted children from all walks of life to have almost the same opportunities as their wealthy peers,’’ she said.

“They have replaced the old government scholarship system that used to exist to support gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“To do away with this wonderful Brisbane institution and replace it with a normal state high school that will only accept families who live in the wealthy inner city goes against core Australian values that make this country such a great place to live.’’

Bill O'Chee. Picture: Peter Cronin

Former National Party Senator Bill O’Chee said BSHS “made me who I am, gave me immense opportunities, and helped so many other talented friends of mine’’.

“Future generations of talents kids deserve the same.’’

Children’s author Jackie French, a student from 1965-1970, said she had received the “best education possible for a girl in Australia’’.

“This credit is not just to the dedicated teachers. Each achievement was made because I was in a selected class of the school’s highest achievers, in a school where students needed to pass a rigorous selective process,’’ she said.

“By the time I reached university, on the scholarship I needed to be able to attend, I had already surpassed the undergraduate courses in history, ancient history, literature and logic and was immediately accepted for discussions at post graduate level by staff.

“I owe this, and much of the career that has followed, to my fellow students.’’

She said her graduating class of 1970, alone, had made huge contributions including a classmate who went on to invent the medical stent, which saved millions of lives including a fellow student.

Author Jackie French.

“One friend and classmate Dr Lyndall White, nee Whitney, pioneered the field of peri-natal psychiatry,’’ Ms French said.

“Others in my peer group remain quiet heroines, establishing a school system in Vanuatu, or a mentor system for disadvantaged youth that has saved thousands of lives.’’

Olympian Duncan Armstrong has also spoken out, saying his father moved his entire family from Rockhampton because he knew his son would benefit from its sporting programs.

The school’s distinguished list of alumni included an entire Wikipedia page which listed no less than 182 prominent lawyers, politicians, actors and TV personalities, businesspeople, academics and sporting stars.

They included: rugby league great Wally Lewis; Olympic decathlete Cedric Dubler; swimmer Hayley Lewis; more than a dozen Queensland Reds and Wallabies rugby greats; cricketers such as Ian Healy, Stuart Law and Michael Kasprowicz; Supreme Court Justices Glenn Martin and Peter Applegarth; TV presenters Heather Foord and Sandra Sully; actor Ray Barrett; and a string of politicians from Senator Murray Watt to local state and federal Greens MPs Amy MacMahon and Max Chandler-Mather.

A change.org petition protesting against the move has attracted 2000 signatures in the 36 hours since it was posted.

Selective entry places are available to out of catchment enrolments but only after the demand for in catchment enrolments has been met.

BSHS, which has an enrolment capacity of 3000 students, has an agreed maximum enrolment capacity of 1000 selective entry students.

About half of selected-entry students are based on academics, 40 per cent on sporting achievements and 10 per cent on cultural (art and music) ability.