Taxpayers forking out $10,550 for every private school student’s education each year

Taxpayers are forking out $10,550 towards each private school kid’s education, but it’s only a fraction of how much every public school student costs.

Taxpayers contribute more than $10,550 towards the cost of educating each private school student annually – twice as much as many parents pay in fees, a new snapshot shows.

This compares to the $19,000 paid annually by taxpayers for each state school student and $12,300 for those in the Catholic sector.

Parents at non-Catholic private schools pay a median annual fee of $5450 and pay $1 billion in capital expenditure annually, analysis from Independent Schools Australia shows.

The figures show one in six Australian school children is now educated at a private school – a total of 647,000 across the country at 1169 schools.

Low-fee schools account for the highest growth, the report shows.

Overall, independent non-Catholic schools contribute $7.9 billion in salaries to the Australian economy from the hiring of 86,000 students, and offer $5.5 billion in savings, the industry claims.

Haileybury in Keysborough, which has a net recurrent income of $124 million per year and charges $25,000 a year median fees.

Independent Schools Australia CEO Margery Evans said the independent sector “has been the fastest growing school sector over the last five years, with enrolments increasing at a rate of 2.1% per year.”

Independent Schools Victoria figures show nearly 151,000 young Victorians – 15 per cent of all students in the state – now attend an independent non-Catholic school.

Catholic Education Commission Victoria executive director Jim Miles said more than 211,000 or 21% of all Victorian students were educated in 499 primary, secondary, and special needs Catholic schools.

Analysis of Victorian private schools show a vast gulf between high-end campuses such as Haileybury in Keysborough, which has a net recurrent income of $124 million per year and charges $25,000 a year median fees. The school has 4600 students at four sites and $45 million in the bank for capital works.

Principal Derek Scott said his institution was named Australian School of the Year in 2018 and had high expectations for its students and teachers. “In the senior school, we expect that 45 per cent of boys and girls should be placed in the top 10 per cent in Australia,” he said.

He said the school was also committed to a strong social education program.

At the other end of the financial scale is Mountain District Christian School in Monbulk which has a net recurrent income of $3 million a year and charges parents median fees of $4804 a year.

The school has 178 students and has just $550,000 in the bank for capital works.

Principal Jason Riding said families “often comment on how much they love the beautiful surroundings in which their children get to learn and the way that teachers regard the wellbeing of their ‘whole’ child, not just their academic learning”.

Originally published as Taxpayers forking out $10,550 for every private school student’s education each year