Education
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
Latest
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
The suburb with no houses gets a $160 million high-rise school
Nestled on a peninsula on the banks of the Parramatta River, the six-storey, vertical Wentworth Point High School is in one of the most densely populated suburbs in the country.
- by Christopher Harris
9,729,900 days lost in one year: The shocking truth about our schools
A decline in attendance has been recorded in private, public and Catholic schools despite a post-pandemic uplift.
- by Christopher Harris
Outrage after uni finds salute, moustache gesture are not antisemitic
The ANU found there was no case to punish a student who appeared to give a Nazi salute, despite the deputy vice chancellor agreeing it happened “on a superficial level”.
- by Olivia Ireland
Greens pledge $800 in ‘back to school’ money for every state school student
The crossbench party launches its election year with a cost-of-living measure that would cost $10 billion to cover all school charges.
- by Olivia Ireland
It’s Sydney and Melbourne versus Brisbane to decide the future of Australia’s Catholic Church
A wider battle over the future of the Catholic Church is fuelling conflict over the leadership and direction of an Australian university.
- by Jordan Baker
Exclusive
Has the plan to help more disadvantaged kids into selective schools failed? Here’s what the data says
One expert suggests providing free academic coaching for the selective school test, with just 1 per cent of students at some schools from a lower socio-economic background.
- by Christopher Harris
Katherine will soon join an elite club. The price? Living on $87 a day
When Katherine hands in her PhD this year, she’s set to join an elite club of just 2 per cent of Australians. But it’s been a financial marathon to get there.
- by Christopher Harris
Managing medications, school refusers: Biggest drains on teachers’ time revealed
NSW Labor promised before the last state election to save five hours of teachers’ time each week. But a new audit doesn’t identify any tasks that can be cut.
- by Christopher Harris
Exclusive
‘Principal’ of Sydney ‘schooling centre’ still working with kids despite rape charge
Mohamed El Brizy’s continued involvement with the homeschooling academy comes amid concerns about an unregulated sector of the education system.
- by Clare Sibthorpe and Daniella White
Parents shell out billions as back-to-school costs increase
Rising expenses and tech demands leave families scrambling for ways to save on uniform and equipment costs ahead of the new school year.
- by Rachael Ward
Exclusive
Forty arts students and one engineer: What NSW politicians studied at uni
They attend university at a higher rate than their constituents, but when it comes to discipline, most MPs in the state opt for one of a small handful of subjects.
- by Cindy Yin
Private coaching entrenches school inequality
A reader asks when governments will lift funding to poorer schools.
School’s out but Kaiden’s happily on a steep learning curve
School holiday programs are in full swing as parents turn to outside help to keep their children entertained and active. Experts say there’s nothing to feel guilty about.
- by Bridie Smith and Madeleine Heffernan
These Sydney private schools will have funding cuts. They might not be the ones you expect
Some schools will lose more than $2000 in federal funding per student under a formula using their parents’ median incomes. See what will change by 2029.
- by Daniella White and Nigel Gladstone
Exclusive
Fraud, poor performance and sexual misconduct: Why these school principals were sacked
New data shows 20 school leaders were dismissed for misconduct or failing improvement plans in 2023.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
Opinion
How the bank of nan and pop is making our polarised school system even worse
Cashed-up grandparents are driving private education fees ever higher. It’s just another degree of stratification for our dysfunctional school system.
- by Jordan Baker
Exclusive
Highest university executive pay packets revealed as crackdown looms
Institutions are spending more on top management staff and almost 200 people are taking home salaries of $500,000 or more a year.
- by Daniella White
Editorial
Better oversight of HSC top achievers’ private coaching needed
Sydney’s estimated multimillion-dollar private tutoring industry is continuing to grow but a lack of regulation means its impact on the education system is difficult to assess.
- The Herald's View
Exclusive
HSC coaching ‘devalues’ selective schools as one college claims quarter of top maths marks
The rise of private coaching centres risks undermining mainstream schooling and the Higher School Certificate, experts say.
- by Lucy Carroll and Cindy Yin
Editorial
Sydney’s wealthiest schools growing further out of reach
The city’s middle-class families, already hit by rising costs of living, face another nasty shock as our high-fee private schools increase the costs of entry.
- The Herald's View
The hardest university degrees to get into, and the ones where ATARs are falling
Top HSC students share their university choices – including one for whom it’s just a back-up until he can get into an American institution.
- by Daniella White and Nicholas Osiowy
Exclusive
Sydney private school fees eclipse $51,000 for year 12
A survey of 30 independent schools shows fee increases of an average of 7 per cent as staffing costs skyrocket.
- by Lucy Carroll
Exclusive
Senior Liberal headlines event for student visa agents before tanking migration bill
Coalition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson headlined an event for migration agents and private colleges in the weeks before tanking Labor’s high-profile student caps bill.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos and Paul Sakkal
Opinion
Planning for schools must be front and centre of government policy
NSW has a history of inadequately planning for the state’s school infrastructure needs.
- by The Herald's View
Exclusive
This Sydney school is full and turning students away – before 3255 new homes are built nearby
Just 10 years after a new north shore public high opened, it is over capacity.
- by Alexandra Smith
The HSC subjects in which more students get better marks
The HSC scaling report belies the notion that doing easier courses is the path to success. See how every course scales in our searchable list.
- by Cindy Yin
The boy who is suing his private school
The student alleges the school’s governing council contravened the terms of a 19th-century charitable trust by implementing its plan to admit girls.
- by Christopher Harris
HSC students receive university offers: Search our database for cut-off scores
Use our interactive database to search for university and college courses throughout Australia in 2025 and their minimum entry requirements.
- by Craig Butt, Christopher Harris and Cindy Yin
Teens eye teaching, commerce and health in first-round university offers
A record 47,500 year 12 graduates will learn their university pathway today with the fastest growing study area management and commerce.
- by Noel Towell
The state’s top schools for HSC mathematics revealed
Epping Boys High had its highest share of maths students achieving marks above 90 on record, while Abbotsleigh and Meriden were among the top private all-girls schools.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
‘Horrific acts of animal cruelty’: Dozens of chickens killed at NSW high school
NSW Police are investigating after 29 birds were slaughtered south of Sydney.
- by Eryk Bagshaw
Exclusive
The low-fee Sydney schools that outrank expensive rivals in the HSC
Schools including St Clare’s in Waverley and Parramatta Marist High are outperforming high-fee private schools.
- by Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
The radical proposal that could end Sydney Uni’s proud history of rebellion
A new rule to enforce a more civil discourse on campus has been backed by the university. It’s caused alarm within.
- by Daniella White
The top schools for HSC English revealed
Eastern suburbs private girls’ school Kambala was the best school for the subject in the 2024 HSC. Here’s how they did it.
- by Christopher Harris and Nigel Gladstone
Opinion
To AI or not to AI? How chatbots can help revive the university essay
Artificial intelligence could help in writing essays, but only if we take the time to reconsider their history and real purpose.
- by Huw Griffiths
Coalition doubles down on promise of student caps, but still doesn’t say how
The Coalition has given its strongest signal yet that it will target rich city universities such as Sydney, Melbourne, UNSW and Monash with its own student caps.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Meet every student who got 99.95 in this year’s HSC
One Sydney private boys school claimed one-quarter of the 51 perfect ATARs.
- by Lucy Carroll, Mary Ward and Ricky Blank
Exclusive
Go-slow visas to provide quick fix for ballooning international student numbers
Labor will issue a go-slow on student visa processing once universities hit a certain number to get around Peter Dutton’s decision to block its student caps bill.
- by Paul Sakkal and Natassia Chrysanthos
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/education-5wl