Barrenjoey's Summer and Narrabeen’s Evan D.:
Evan:
December 3rd 1854, a date later labelled as the Eureka Stockade, had hundreds of Australians of all groups and creeds come together to righteously fight for fair representation in their own society. What we see today is that the Eureka Rebellion became one of the founding tenets of our modern egalitarian identity and the right to a better standard of life for all future Australians. In response to this social progression, the NSW Public Instruction Act of 1880 was created, defining and developing statewide, free, secular, and quality public education for all children within the colony.
While many governments have succeeded the colonial administration, we have begun to take for granted the immeasurable impact that quality public education has had on the foundations of Australia as an economic power, and the impact it will continue to have on Australia’s future, should its decades long, institutionalised decline carry on. What we see today is both an economic and social neglect of public education, and the stratification of communities across NSW and Australia arising from ever-growing private school enrolment as a result of this neglect. Therefore, we believe that not only will this divide disadvantage us today and tomorrow, but will have a wider societal impact as it drives a wedge into our already divisive country, community, and population.
Resulting from the evident reduction in public school enrolments, the Minns government announced at the opening of last month that the budget for public education was to be cut by 148 million dollars, worsening the already dire situation where many students do not have access to textbooks, learning materials, adequate technology, and basic amenities… But tonight we don't aim to repeat the already known issues within the public education system, instead we want to simply highlight our personal experiences; that how a lack of transparency, poor teacher retention, and an absence of impactful advocacy is feeding into the cultural fear surrounding public education. Because every child deserves a fighting chance during their most pivotal years of life.
Summer:
While interest rates and cost of living pressures continue to rise, enrolments at private schools are growing at a faster rate than those public. Despite this growth, the government is still catering for 64% of students, that's approximately 2 million, 600 thousand young people. [That's] 2 million, 600 thousand young people, who can and will work, live, play and vote in Australia. Who will become your future doctors, lawyers, scientists, professors, policy makers and …….teachers.
The journey to these careers starts with the HSC. Currently 75% of schools within the top HSC results in NSW are private schools, however if we improve our resourcing, funding and standards, and if we begin to deconstruct the notion that public schools are simply a social welfare system for those “worse off” we can then reconstruct the stereotypes and normalise exceptional outcomes for students across the board. Easier said than done. Receiving funds isn’t as simple as passing GO on Monopoly.
Many of the issues rooted in our topic are a part of a bigger one pertaining to the retention of teaching as a career path, ensuring practical teachers get paid, and increasing their salary. And whilst we support the New South Wales Teachers Federations' recent proclamation, “don't be angry about schools funding. Be furious.”, we know the expenses of these issues and factors contributing to struggles to attain funding so we turned our attention to something that we as students can drive.
Evan:
Public education since its inception has had a lack of transparency in regards to how funds are derived, spent, and more importantly, how they contribute to the betterment of a student’s education. The lack of information given to students about school budgets and the supposed upgrades to our facilities creates a widespread impression that we are being left in the dark, and given empty promises.
Many times students have come up to me asking me the whens and whats regarding much needed school renovations, and as school captain, the bridge between students and teachers, I can do nothing but shrug back as I know as much as they do. If students and the wider community are informed extensively on the process, the anxieties surrounding enrolling at a public school held by both parents and students alike can be greatly reduced.
Additionally, we need a way students can contribute to the decision making process of how to spend a school budget, apart from the essentials, as it would give us a chance to influence upgrades or resources bought, and speak up about what impacts our learning the most.
Summer:
Furthermore, we propose advocacy. This evening, we seek your support in championing a more equitable distribution of funding across all schools. Specifically, we call for a reallocation of private school funds to public schools to address the stark inequalities prevalent throughout New South Wales. By advocating for this shift, we aim to rectify the disparities highlighted by reports such as the one revealing that Sydney private school Cranbrook invested more in a new pool and expanded fitness and drama facilities in 2021 than governments spent on 2,549 public schools combined. Similarly, data from 2023 indicates that Australian private schools received in excess of $800 million in funding, while public schools faced a shortfall of $4.5 billion.
Take a second to imagine a future where all schools are funded to a point where we are not just surviving but all staff and students thrive.
Similarly, teacher shortages, especially frequent at public schools like the one I attend, only affect young people and especially those that cannot afford private school fees, providing an opportunity to further the poverty cycle.
In order for high quality universally accessible public education, private primary/secondary schools should not exist, let alone receive any government funding.
Additionally, the lack of air conditioner at our school has made the recent heat unbearable to work in, and no one can study in such an environment, and the reason due to this is because our school has no money.
The school grounds do not supply air conditioning except for 1 single room and it has reached up to 40° on some days. Rooms on the third floor are practically unbearable to sit in and learn. It is hard to pay attention to HSC content when you feel like you are being cooked alive.
Although I am going to a state ranked school with poor amenities, that school outranks almost all private schools in New South Wales. Yet some textbooks are falling apart and we lack certain science equipment.
Where I am there aren't many groups and extra curriculars for teenagers, private schools get way better stuff then public and that gives those students more opportunities.
Things are too expensive; when you have a single parent it is impossible to live stably here, and the worse part is the people who are wealthy, with excess amounts of money, are not aware of the disparities and differences of opportunities that they'll have in their lives. Sometimes I believe they are not aware of how the real world works or interacts with the majority of the population who aren't homeless but don't have enough money to spend on items, excursions, laptops and other things that aren't essentials.
And they don’t teach us enough about sex in school.
These are the ones that resonate with me the most, it would definitely vary for others. I chose these three; because private schools receive exponentially higher funding than public schools - our school is very well off, lucky and privileged, but I’m aware of others that are not meeting the same standard - Social media; because I think (with the sheer amount of content consumed) it shapes peoples personalities, impacts our ability to interact and our self image, and teacher shortages; because I have found classes to have no teacher at times and no available sub to cover it.
As we live on the beaches some people are less comfortable about their body due to the “norm” image you see at the beach. Less recreational services provided in primary schools, and not much promotional material around the beaches, diminishes the capacity for young people to connect with a healthy body image and healthy interacting lifestyle from the outset of their educational years, a gap in the foundational base that can impact the rest of their lives.
A barrier is created between Public and Private school kids as preconceived ideas are made from either side.
These are issues that directly affect the current and future prosperity of young people on the northern beaches. Further inaction in these areas will result in an increased social divide and an inability for individuals to remain in their home areas.
I believe these issues are central to young people. They’re also issues adults don’t face, therefore they aren’t equipped to make an informed decision on the topic.
Just because they do matter and schools should be good no matter what.
We need you to help us ensure that once we leave the stage tonight, we will continue to get a say, that we’re not stuck in gaol while our other players get ahead. Help us roll the dice, get to Mayfair ….. And pass GO, so that we can tap into our lost potential.
