Education
Northern NSW hunkers down as Cyclone Alfred inches closer
Supermarkets, health clinics, transport, schools and roads have all been impacted by Cyclone Alfred. Here’s what you need to know.
- by Kayla Olaya
Latest
Exclusive
The major NAPLAN change coming to schools
Teachers will get maths and reading results almost instantly under a plan by the national curriculum authority.
- by Nick Newling
SMH Schools Summit 2025 as it happened: Prue Car speaks after funding deal, selective schools in the spotlight
Sydney’s education thought leaders have gathered at ICC Sydney for The Sydney Morning Herald School Summit.
- by Nick Newling
Editorial
Comprehensive schools carry a disproportionate burden of disadvantage
The SMH Schools Summit 2025 will hear radical proposals for selective public schools and private schools to share the load of disadvantaged students.
- The Herald's View
Former education chief’s call to curb new selective schools
Michele Bruniges will use a speech at The Sydney Morning Herald Schools Summit on Wednesday to outline how public schools disproportionately educate disadvantaged students.
- by Christopher Harris
This north shore school catchment shake-up blindsided parents. Now there’s a delay
A controversial change to the catchment zone of one of Sydney’s top-performing comprehensive schools, Killara High, has been pushed back.
- by Nick Newling
Editorial
New homes without new schools is shooting planning in the foot
The Minns government has shelved plans to build schools in the very suburbs it has earmarked for housing development.
- The Herald's View
Exclusive
Thousands of NSW primary school students to sit new mathematics test
The teacher-run 15-minute test will check students’ maths skills in counting, ordering numbers and simple addition and subtraction.
- by Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris
Albanese clears $4.8bn hurdle in race to federal election
The federal government will lift its share of NSW school funding in a similar deal to a $2.5 billion agreement with Victoria five weeks ago.
- by David Crowe
It’s one of the north shore’s most prized school catchments - and it just shrank
Families pay a median price of $3.3 million to live in Killara. Now, many of them won’t get their kids into Killara High.
- by Nick Newling
Opinion
To win parents’ votes, put their kids first – with childcare that hits home
There’s evidence that children aged under three are more stressed in childcare centres than at home. Working parents need options.
- by Parnell Palme McGuinness
The principal who made a pact with parents about what happens after school
Bans and restrictions on use and type of mobile phones are gaining traction.
- by Christopher Harris
Exclusive
These north shore schools have been shelved but thousands of new homes are coming
Plans for an education precinct at St Leonards and a new Chatswood public primary school were earmarked under the former government.
- by Lucy Carroll
Private schools lobby vows federal election fight over ‘class-war rhetoric’
Seventeen seats have been designated “ground zero” in a campaign to pressure major parties to shore up billions of dollars in public funding.
- by Bridie Smith
Students protest at Sydney school after Muslim staffer told to work from home
Granville Boys High student support officer Sheikh Wesam Charkawi was ordered to remove social media posts where he downplayed antisemitic comments made by two Sydney nurses.
- by Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris
Opinion
How the housing crisis is destroying university life
With part-time jobs, fewer lectures and long commutes, many university students are weighing up whether it’s worth turning up to class.
- by Michelle Arrow, Jonathan Symons and Tanya Evans
‘Kids dragged along floors’: Minister announces childcare review
Education Minister Prue Car has announced a review to assess the rise in reportable conduct in NSW daycare centres and how they are handled by the regulator.
- by Christopher Harris
Video allegedly shows a young boy being bullied by older students
Video allegedly showing a young Ballarat Grammar boy being bullied by a group of older schoolmates.
Exclusive
Revealed: The secret performance targets for our schools
Performance goals that have been kept from the public for months reveal what parents really think about their children’s school.
- by Lucy Carroll
The most popular schools for Sydney house hunters revealed
While the state government is focused on delivering more co-ed options, many of the most popular schools are single sex.
- by Christopher Harris
Parents plan legal challenge over Sydney high school’s controversial changes
Parents this week launched a fundraising campaign to raise $20,000 in a bid to stop the senior campus from being dismantled.
- by Christopher Harris
Exclusive
Private school bubble: Where students at Sydney’s biggest universities came from
Public school graduates made up only 41 per cent of new undergraduates at Sydney University despite efforts to increase students from disadvantaged groups.
- by Christopher Harris and Lucy Carroll
Seven in 10 high school students fail civics and citizenship tests
The latest results come amid a loss of faith in democracy and political institutions, rising antisemitic attacks and a breakdown in social cohesion.
- by Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris
Girls lead exodus as parents choose private and Catholic schools
Thousands more NSW parents are choosing Catholic and private schools for their children amid an exodus from public education.
- by Christopher Harris and Craig Butt
New deal gives university students unlimited access to the Herald and The Age
A premium subscription licensing deal will make independent and award-winning journalism available to university students and staff.
- by Emily Kaine
Exclusive
‘Swimming in debt’: Sydney’s $14 billion student loan burden
This map reveals which suburbs are carrying the city’s biggest HELP debts.
- by Matt Wade
Exclusive
TikToker defamed female Sydney Uni student over sex assault report protest
The influencer has been ordered to pay $20,000 after accusing the woman of complicity when a group of male students tore up a report into campus sexual violence.
- by Perry Duffin
Parents spent millions to secure entry to this school. Now they’re being turned away
About a dozen streets have been affected by the change to a popular Sydney school catchment.
- by Christopher Harris
‘Toxic environment’: Unis told to adopt controversial definition of antisemitism
The government should consider changing workplace laws to make it easier for universities to fire or discipline academics, a parliamentary inquiry report recommends.
- by Daniella White
Frances was burnt out after 16 years as a principal. Now she’s teaching again
Fewer teachers are resigning and retiring after they were given a $10,000 pay rise.
- by Christopher Harris
Banks told to ignore student debt when weighing up home loans
Millions of Australians collectively carrying more than $43 billion in student debts have faced problems getting a mortgage. Now they may have a chance to buy a home.
- by Shane Wright
The number of school students forecast to come to every suburb in NSW
Demographers say there will be an additional 51,926 primary and 40,497 high school students over the next 10 years to 2034.
- by Christopher Harris and Nigel Gladstone
Exclusive
Compulsory civics lessons push amid escalating antisemitic attacks in Sydney
The state’s top private school told parents it will review its curriculum programs to ensure it’s emphasising “the importance of tolerance and understanding”.
- by Lucy Carroll
Editorial
Democracy can’t be scrolled but should be promptly taught in our schools
A parliamentary committee highlights new evidence that Australia’s school students know very little about how our country works.
- The Herald's View
Where your neighbours send their kids to school
Where you go to school follows a typical pattern in Sydney, but top-performing schools with good reputations have the ability to upend an entire suburb’s enrolment demographics.
- by Christopher Harris and Craig Butt
Historians and lexicologists to give expert opinion in Newington co-ed court battle
Newington College’s plans to begin admitting girls from next year are set to hinge on a legal interpretation of a 152-year-old trust deed.
- by Lucy Carroll
Campus creeps on notice with anti-sexual violence code
Jobseekers in higher education will be forced to disclose allegations or investigations of sexual harm and universities could be fined if they don’t meet safety standards under a code to prevent gender-based violence on campus.
- by Nicole Precel
Exclusive
‘This will split our suburb in two’: Parents’ anger over school catchment changes
Inner Sydney High has its first year 12 cohort doing the HSC this year – and it is already feeling the popularity pinch.
- by Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris
This Sydney billionaire wants to hire more women. He’s spending $100m to make it happen
The gift from tech entrepreneur Robin Khuda is the single biggest philanthropic donation made in NSW.
- by Christopher Harris
Exclusive
Head of top Sydney private girls’ school to retire after 30 years
The SCEGGS school board announced Jenny Allum would retire at the end of this year after serving as principal since 1996.
- by Lucy Carroll
Opinion
As big tech abandons truth, teachers like me must be the fact-checkers
With the end of fact-checking on many platforms, our young people are exposed to a tsunami of misinformation. Do schools and educators now have a role in pushing back against this tide of fact-free opinion?
- by Fiona Richards
‘Big breakthrough’: Private schools to disclose teachers’ extra hours under new deal
Private schools will need to be upfront with teachers about how many hours they will need to spend running extracurricular activities under a new pay deal.
- by Christopher Harris and Lucy Carroll
Exclusive
‘Shocked’: College ordered to shut after students accused of cheating
The vocational education watchdog has been on an aggressive campaign to clean up the sector. One college says it has been wrongly targeted.
- by Daniella White
$700 a week to share an apartment: Sydney’s student housing crisis laid bare
Students such as Neeve Nagle are spending more than half their income on rent as the cost of university accommodation skyrockets.
- by Nicholas Osiowy
School readiness programs are booming. But are children being overprepared?
They are designed to smooth a child’s transition to kindergarten. Educators say they’re also supporting parents.
- by Christopher Harris
Opinion
I love my children, but sheesh it’s time they went to school. These holidays have gone on forever
If parenthood is about anything, it’s about marking milestones. First steps, first words, first teeth. The first day of school can’t come quickly enough.
- by Michael Ruffles
Exclusive
‘Demand is there’: Sydney private high school opens doors to years 5 and 6
Rosebank College will expand to take primary years, while an all-boys north shore private secondary school says opening primary grades is under “ongoing consideration”.
- by Lucy Carroll
The schools that have asked parents to pay for paper, tissues and markers
Principals have been told not to ask parents to fund communal supplies, but some are asking for hand soap, tissues, whiteboard markers and Play-Doh.
- by Christopher Harris
As public school enrolments fall, boys’ schools are bucking the trend
Hirsh Modi is one of hundreds of additional boys headed for single-sex schooling this year.
- by Christopher Harris
AI smashed the job prospects of these Sydney students. This is how they’re fighting back
Millions of jobs have come under threat since the arrival of ChatGPT two years ago. These Sydney students choose to make friends with AI.
- by Daniel Lo Surdo
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/education