CANBERRA, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- High-income Australian families are increasingly enrolling their children in government schools, rather than elite private schools, according to new figures.
The trend is reflected in new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) which showed that, among wealthier families, enrolments in government (public) schools had increased by 7 percent over the last decade.
In 2006, just over 40 percent of students from high-income families earning more than 11,7842.40 U.S. dollars per year in New South Wales were attending government schools. That figure had now grown to 50 percent, according to the ABS data, released on Monday.
Conversely, 27.8 percent of this high-income group was now attending Catholic schools and 22 percent was going to private schools, down from 29 percent in 2006.
In Victoria, there was now 12 percent fewer children in independent schools compared to a decade ago, with an extra 4 percent of families heading to the Catholic sector, and 8 percent to government schools.
The reasons are said to be two-fold: the quality of teaching at some government schools has improved noticeably in recent times and the public system is a considerably cheaper option than private school education.
Independent Schools Victoria Chief Executive Michelle Green told Fairfax Media on Monday that while wealthier families were abandoning private schools, the new data showed how lower-income families were being attracted by what non-government schools had to offer.
"The figures challenge the myth that independent schools are the sole preserve of the wealthy," Green said, adding "in fact more than half of the students at independent schools are from low and middle income families."
The pattern was replicated across the country, beyond NSW and Victoria, and is set to increase pressure on already-stretched state public school systems that have been forced to install demountable classrooms by the hundreds in order to meet demand.
The latest data, taken from the 2016 Census, comes as the school funding debate pushes its way back into federal Parliament this week.
