Talking Point: Hobart families should have the option of a public co-ed school

Hobart has 10 public primary schools, but not one public co-ed high school, says PHILIPPA DUNCAN

CONGESTION: High school students have to bus or be driven to Taroona.

IMAGINE you’re a parent in Hobart. Where are your children going to high school? If you want co-education, that is, boys and girls in the same classroom, in your local community, there’s an uncomfortable reality. Your family is going to have to find tens of thousands of dollars for private school fees.

It’s a different story if you live in a neighbouring local government area. Across the river, Clarence boasts three public co-ed high schools (Rose Bay, Clarence and Bayview). South of the city, Kingborough has two (Taroona and Kingston) and to the north, Glenorchy also has two (Cosgrove and Montrose Bay). Poor old Hobart has none, zero. In fact, it’s the only capital city without one. We’re told Hobart is the only municipality in Australia that doesn’t have a public co-ed high school. This is a gap and it needs to be addressed urgently.

FULL: Taroona High School.

The Hobart High Community Group believes all Tasmanians should have the choice to send their children to an excellent local public co-ed high school. In Hobart, we have more than 10 excellent public primary schools. But reach high school, and the door slams shut on local public co-ed. Just put your children on a bus, I hear you cry. Well, a Hobart family with two children will spend almost $5000 on bus fares getting to a public co-ed high school. The students will spend the equivalent of a schoolday a week travelling out of city and back home again. It also costs the taxpayer because the government spends about $20 million a year on bus subsidies for students to attend schools out of area.

It also costs commuters, adding to Hobart’s traffic congestion. Just think of the difference in traffic between school term and school holidays. Putting 1000 children in buses and cars and sending them out of the city and down to Taroona puts a lot of extra traffic on the road. And for the record, Hobart families are not selecting Taroona. The public education system directs Hobart primary school students south of and including Mount Stuart to Taroona High as their co-ed option. The lack of a co-ed public high school in Hobart costs everyone and is a clear failure in planning.

In 2017, the state government committed $300,000 to determine the feasibility of a new inner-city high school in Hobart because of growth at inner-city primary schools and Taroona High. Despite requests, the government has not released the study, but it has consulted on the future of the Hobart City Partner Schools, New Town and Ogilvie high schools (both single-sex) and Elizabeth College.

Ogilvie High School for girls in New Town.

The Education Minister has argued it would be difficult to spend millions of dollars on a new high school in Hobart while there’s room at nearby schools. The consultation appears to be the government seeking permission to turn New Town (boys) and Ogilvie (girls) into co-ed high schools to meet a growing appetite for classrooms with boys and girls.

Indeed enrolment figures show a trend away from single-sex schools in Hobart in favour of co-education at Taroona. Between 2014 and 2019, Ogilvie High’s enrolment declined by 183 students to 626 girls and New Town High’s numbers are down by 77 boys to 698.

Taroona High on the other hand is overcrowded. The increasingly popular co-ed high school has exceeded its capacity of 1050 students and is now overflowing with 1110 boys and girls after enrolments increased by 241 students in five years. Student numbers are expected to grow, hitting 1,240 by 2023 — that’s almost 20 per cent or 200 students more than the school’s capacity.

New Town High School.

This is not a single-sex versus co-ed debate. It is not a school-versus-school debate. Whether the Education Minister decides to finally address the co-ed gap in Hobart with a new school or changes to existing schools is ultimately a decision for him. Our primary objective is for the Hobart municipality to offer a co-ed public high school.

For parents and their children, it comes down to equity. Hobart families shouldn’t have to put their children on a bus and send them out of the city, adding to traffic congestion and costing families time and money. All Tasmanians should have the choice to send their children to an excellent local co-ed high school, but if you live in Hobart, you are penalised and don’t have that choice. A public co-ed high school in Hobart is well overdue.

Philippa Duncan is spokeswoman for Hobart High Community — Tasmania.