Free «Education in Australia» Essay Sample

All spheres of human life including economic, political, social, and spiritual, are constantly developing, and for their further progress, people need education. In this regard, Australia offers two the most popular kinds of education: public and private. However, students and their parents sometimes face challenges when choosing a better educational facility. Therefore, public and private education in Australia should be studied in more details in order to define differences and similarities between them.

Annually, public schools of primary and secondary levels put on the roll and graduate the majority of students. The financing of the major part of their needs is made by the corresponding state or territory government. In their turn, private schools, both secular and religious, use to charge higher fees from their students, at the expense of which they cover their financial needs. Irrespective of the school types, educational activities are based on the common curriculum standards framework (Working In Australia n.d.).

The majority of private and public schools enforce a dress code or uniform for their student, although there are numerous variations of uniforms among these schools. However, private schools are more likely to enforce school uniform because it symbolizes a certain discipline and culture. These parameters are what the parents want to observe when paying their money. Thus, uniforms of private schools are usually more expensive than those demanded by public schools. (Barrowclough 2014).

Nevertheless, public schools can also be on a paying basis, as well as private ones. In the case, when a student has a temporary resident visa, he or she must pay Education Fee and the Temporary Residents Administration Fee. Thus, upper tier of public schools, such as Grammar schools and Selective schools, has restricted access for those students (NSW Department of Education and Communities 2012). In addition, some private and some public schools are similar in their principle of selective intake of students. They attract students from higher socio-economic groups who have a strong financial support at home and have already achieved good educational records (Barrowclough 2014).

Unlike private schools, which are usually religious, public schools are secular. At the same time, public schools can also provide their students with optional religious education. As a whole, attendance of public schools preponderates over private schools: approximately 64 percent and 34 percent of students respectively. Public schools are divided into two types: open and selective. Open schools accept all students from their defined feeder or catchments fields. Selective public schools are more prestigious than open ones because they have wider accepted catchment fields. Schools of this kind are more educationally enriched and academically stimulating as well as most private schools in Australia providing an enhanced learning environment to their students on a placement. On the contrary, private schools are fitted with extra-curricular activity and sporting options, school facilities and grounds, which make them one of the best in the country (Working In Australia n.d.).

In terms of gender stratification, male students prevail in public schools rather than in private schools (Evershed 2014). Recently conducted research showed that students attending private schools produce better results in comparison to data obtained from public schools. Such success of private schools is achieved by means of more access to technology and better sources because they have more money than public schools. Besides, it also depends on the fact that private schools accept fewer students who are not English native speakers, indigenous students, and those with special needs. On the other hand, public schools are considered to be more loyal and fair in these terms because they do not infringe the interests of other students. For example, public schools are obligated to accept students with behavioral difficulties, learning difficulties, and disabilities (Jacobs 2011).

Taking into account all abovementioned information, it should be noted that Australia offers a rich choice of schools for students. The most popular are private schools and public schools, which have both similarities and differences. The first and the most obvious difference is the way of their funding that leads to their stratification in terms of statuses, ratings and opportunities. However, it is difficult to judge about these two kinds of Australian schools since both are rather popular and progressive in the educational sphere of the country.