Markets 
Parenting involves a lot of tricky choices. Not least of which is where your child should go to school.
Parents are increasingly finding themselves in a strategic game to optimise their child’s future by increasing their odds at getting into a better school – whether that be public, selective, Catholic or independent.
Increasingly, parents have turned away from our public schools.
It’s no secret that enrolments in our public schools are declining. Before the pandemic, 65 per cent of NSW students attended a public school. In 2025, it was down to 62 per cent, and the total number of students enrolled has declined by more than 30,000 over the same time.
There are many reasons given to explain this decline. An oft-cited one is that for many parents looking to give their kids the best shot at life, public schools are just not as good as private options and so many parents have chosen to switch.
With some shelling out over $500,000 for the state’s top private schools, it can be an expensive choice too.
In all fairness, the choice can seem rather obvious. Private schools boast excellent facilities, extensive options for extracurricular and co-curricular activities and go toe-to-toe with the top selective schools in annual HSC results league tables. Indeed, analysis by The Australian Financial Review revealed that more than half of Australia’s prime ministers went to either a private or Catholic school.
So, to set your child on the path to greatness, put them in a private school (unless you don’t want a politician in the family, fair enough). It’s a no-brainer, right?
Not quite. The data says, “It just ain’t so.”
Of course, most public schools can’t compete on the grounds of, well, school grounds. And to try to keep up with their private counterparts on extracurricular activities, some schools, such as Sydney Boys High School, ask for an annual voluntary contribution of $3000. But when you look at educational attainment, the picture looks quite different.
A 2022 study of NAPLAN results, conducted by researchers from the University of New England, found that once a student’s background is accounted for (such as socioeconomic status and parents’ education attainment), there was no significant benefit for independent and Catholic school students over public school students.
Other studies looking at student performance at university have largely found that students who went to public high schools do just as well, if not better, than their privately educated peers.
It seems then that perhaps independent schools are less a guaranteed booster to a better life, but rather an aggregator of postcodes and parental attitudes towards education.
If you have sent your child down the private education path, it is easy to attribute any future success to the school. It becomes tricky to account for the fact that your concern for their education and your encouragement for them to learn and grow as people is what can make a real difference.
A student’s attitude towards their learning, motivation and self-discipline – often shaped by the parents – is a big driver of academic success. These qualities are not inherent to the school but develop first at home.
It can explain why students from public schools can outperform their privately educated peers at university. Private school students benefit from a halo effect from their peers, but extensive support directly from the school to boost HSC results can negatively affect independent learning skills that are critical for succeeding in university.
There are other benefits to public schools that aren’t reflected in the numbers.
Public schools bring together and reflect the local community, often from diverse backgrounds, which helps children develop key soft skills in interacting with people from all walks of life. At a time when Australia seems increasingly divided, this is becoming even more important.
Needless to say, your teachers also matter. Our public school teachers and staff are dedicated and deliver the best possible education for students of all abilities, as do their private school peers.
Then again, I may be biased.
When my family first arrived in Australia, a private school was never on the cards, but my parents prioritised education and wanted my siblings and I to do well. They taught me to value my education, which in turn drove me to study hard. For this, I will always be grateful to my parents.
Along the way, I have been helped by countless dedicated teachers. One teacher encouraged me to apply for the NSW Education Minister’s Student Council, and so in Year 11, I found myself advising the minister and the Department of Education. My economics teacher read countless drafts of my application for a cadetship in financial services. Thanks to his help, at 17 I began working in the industry while studying economics at the University of Sydney.
At 21, I have made it this far not despite my public education, but because of it.
Farzam Zaher is a Dalyell Scholar and casual academic at the University of Sydney. He attended government schools in Wollongong.
Farzam Zaher is a Dalyell Scholar and casual academic at the University of Sydney.From our partners
Read the full article here
