I know of a public school where every teacher is about to get a free lap top, and the ratio of computers to students is about 1:2, but the student marks are gradually declining.

The P&C has spent nearly $1,000,000 in 10 years on the school, but the student marks are gradually declining.

There are numerous murals and sculptures right throughout the school, but the student marks are gradually declining.

There are landscaped gardens between every building, but the student marks are gradually declining.

There is a irrigation facility for the oval that incorporates recycled water, but the student marks are gradually declining.

Every room is now air conditioned, but the student marks are gradually declining.

The school runs fashion festivals, art festivals and food festivals, but the student marks are gradually declining.

In grade 10 a student can choose between 25 possible subjects, and in grade 12 a student can choose between 41 possible subjects, but the student marks are gradually declining.

And so on.

I would think there are 2 reasons why the student marks are gradually declining

1/ The school has become an entertainment center rather than a place where the students actually learn something.

2/ The teachers have a totally dismissive and feminist attitude towards the boys, and the boys have become so demotivated, that their marks are continuously falling, and this brings down the overall marks of the school.

In fact, out of about 100 grade 12 boys, that school is now lucky to get more than 10 boys in grade 12 going on to university each year.

No Statistics, percentages, or Liberal/ Labor blame.
I went to a private/ catholic school as a child and sent my children, granted, because of financial constraints to Public School. They are now about to go into years 10 and 12 and I and my wife could'nt be prouder of them, there efforts, there teachers and the School. Support your child morally, give them as much time as you can possibly afford and ensure their teacher's are aware that you care about your child's grades and future. Sad but true, if they (teacher's) know you care, more effort will be applied to your child's education. An education earn't will always outweigh an education bought. Hold your head high!

Given Leslie's advocacy on abortion I am pleased she has the problem. The ACT Labor Minister for Education who is very anti the private education sector managed to significantlty increase parents interest in private schools recently by announcing that she thought the Government should provide condoms to year six because, "lets face it they are sexually active". A great turn of for parents who actually care fortheir children.

HRS, maybe girls were ALWAYS smarter than boys, and its just paternalistic attitudes that held them down in the past :)~

As someone who has been to uni, may I suggest that it is far from the be all and end all. In fact between myself and my two siblings, the one earning the highest income was the one that didnt go to uni (the pay difference is around $15,000 pa). And not wasting all that money on HECS....

I do agree though that facilities are not everything. A few basics like airconditioners go a long way (particularly out in the western division). More emphasis needs to go back on the basics of learning, as this is what everything else can be built from .

Country Gal
Sorry to disappoint you, but although there are now more girls going to university, girl's marks have only improved about 0.1% over the last 30 years, according to benchmark tests.

Boy's marks have declined about 4-5% in that time period, and in some of the more feminist schools, the decline is much greater.

I have personally heard the most denigrating and discriminatory remarks said about boy's by various teachers, but those remarks do not motivate the boys, and it is probably one of the reasons why so many boys do not want to go onto university, or pursue higher education.

However the idea that you do not need higher education is not correct. If someone wants an upward career path, then they will eventually need higher education.

I would also agree that facilities are not everything, and some schools are beginning to realize this.

I know of a number of public schools in QLD that were offered large grants from the state government, but the schools declined those grants, because they had enough in the school already, and the schools wanted to concentrate more on actual school work, so as to improve the student marks.

If the students wanted to do extra, such as some artwork or some extra curriculum activity, they could do that outside of school hours.

Those are the clever schools.

Thank you Dr Cannold for posting your ‘Age’ column here.

Your item raises two critical issues not yet addressed by others:
1. If the private school sector delivers a notionally ‘good’ education for $18-25,000 annually (fees $12-18,000 plus $6-7,000 State and Federal government subsidies), then Australia is seriously deprived when our Governments only provide $10,000 for ‘State’ education. This situation has to be redressed ASAP by our next Government – whatever its colour – and at whatever cost. Education is our right – it is not a privilege.

2. There are private schools in Australia with waiting lists approaching their current enrollment.
Since the private sector currently educates about 33% of our students, this situation means that it is approaching the potential to educate 66%. This, of course, means that the State system will then only service the lower ends of the wealth or intelligence spectrums and remote localities. This is a truly frightening prospect. State education will become just a ‘safety net’ - but not even a good one, after the private sector has offered scholarships to the ‘best’ students and extracted the best teachers from the ‘State’ system, often induced by zero fees for any children. And if students don't meet benchmarks, teacher salaries will be in jeopardy and then, who would want to teach! Is this the real hidden agenda behind Mr Howard’s privatised education plans – a two tiered system of very disparate qualities; real Dickensian stuff of earlier centuries. Tax deductions for school fees would only accelerate this trend. Other Nations, including the USA, would not tolerate such a system.