Noel Guerin

Publication Date

2008

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Subjects

Equal education, Disadvantage, School systems, Non-government schools, Government schools, Educational finance, Primary secondary schools

Abstract

The education system in Australia is fundamentally unfair and undemocratic. It fails the fundamental test of giving a fair go to every student, because access to the best education is not equally available to all young Australians. Instead, it depends on parents’ capacity and willingness to pay. Discrimination for the privileged elite is based, not on race, but on financial resources. In the United Kingdom, where a similar situation exists, there has been much public debate about ‘educational apartheid’! There is little reason to believe that the situation in this country is fairer. Government school students are generally perceived to be disadvantaged simply by the fact they attend a government school. More than one third of Australian school students are considered to be unfairly advantaged simply because they can and do choose to attend an independent school. Social class division is created by and perpetuated by the dual system of education, and by the huge gap in standards between the best schools and the worst.

Place of Publication

Adelaide, Australia

Publisher

Shannon Research Press

ISBN

978-1-920736-32-3

Education revolution: Ending educational apartheid in Australia

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