Dear rational-debate,

No one can force anyone to believe anything. My chief objections to government funding schools supported by religious entities are that I think it violates S. 116 of the Australian Constitution by government funds supporting the schools and it segregates students by religion.

I think one reason there are such schools is that parents would like to limit the contact of their children with children of other faiths to lessen the chance of intermarriage. They have a right to do that, but that should not be funded by the government.

rationale-debate,
I am in an area where 99% of students are sent to boarding school at everyone else's expense except the parent's.
99 % of these students come back with no discernible skills. 1% enter a questionable scheme for some trade which usually ends up as a trade-off for some integrity devoid bureaucrat beating their chest for putting "apprentices" through. Looks great in the deceiving reports to the Government. ½ % actually finish a trade but then head for office jobs in air conditioned Govt buildings. We now have no local people who know how to hold a hammer or a saw.
This is not an education system, this is a dumbing-down on a massive scale sanctioned by dumbed-down teachers whose sole aim is an overly generous & undeserved Superannuation.
They callously co-operate with incompetent bureaucrats who don't give a second's thought to society as a whole. That is education now.
The 1 or 2 % of students who go on & exercise their knowledge to become scientists or engineers, doctors etc.& decent citizens in general are then used as an excuse to portray an extremely poor education system as a success story.

David F - the S 116 of the Australian Constitution debate has been fought and lost (or won, depending on your viewpoint). It would have to be an extremely broad interpretation that would see the funding of independent schools in breach.

Individual - While I think I agree with your broader points, I fear you might be suffering from hyperbole overload. 99%? 1%? 0.5%? Unless you come from a town of only 15 people, I think you need to get some research to back up those figures...

I'm not sure how you link a poor education system with the lack of competent tradespeople in your area. I would more likely link that to the misguided "aspirational Australia" model touted by many politicians. Yes, that links to education but education isn't the cause.

The usual ideological tripe from Donnelly.

Try looking at the best education system in the world and you will see that they do the EXACT OPPOSITE of the Donnelly dogma of rehashing right wing ideology masquerading as research.

Read this and see how the Finns do it.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/

rationale-debate,
those percentages are not exaggerated. We literally have no young adults who can do anything either for themselves or for others. They had all paid for boarding school/college education. I had 8 years primary school in Europe. Considering the amount it cost the taxpayer to educate them for what ? To go from college to Centrelink ? Tha lack of tradies has everything to do with education. Teachers failed miserably in enlightening their students sufficiently to be smart enough for a trade. Schools only prepare them to tick multiple choice questions. The expense of educating them vs getting value for money for them is so disproportional that it is nothing short of criminal. Education is supposed to teach kids not dumb them down to the same level as their teachers.

Dear rational debate,

The wording of S. 116 of the Australian Constitution and the mentions of religion in the American Constitution are identical. The only difference is that the provision of 'no religious test for office' is separate from the other references to religion in the US Constitutional. Yet chaplains in the public schools and government funding for private schools are illegal under US law. The Supreme Court of the US interprets the Constitution of the US differently from the way the High Court of Australia interprets the Constitution of Australia. The struggle to get separation of religion and state in Australia continues.