Bombshell new data reveals Aussie high schools the most expensive in the WORLD – as parents at the cheapest schools pay four times the fees of similar countries
New research has found Australia is one the most expensive places in the world to go to high school.
Data collected by the The Australia Institute found the cost of going to high school is driven by the ‘unusually high number of Australian students who go to private schools and the unusually high prices of those private schools’.
A report on Monday claimed the average Australian family spends $4,967 each year to put a child through high school, almost four times the OECD average – which looks at prices across 38 developed nations.
Families who send their children to private school face significantly higher costs with fees reaching up to $55,000 per child each year. paying even more, with fees now reaching up to $55,000 per child, per year.
‘Governments are throwing public money at private schools that clearly don’t need it,’ said Richard Denniss, co-CEO of The Australia Institute.
‘Australia’s private schools are growing, and their fees keep rising. Yet all this money isn’t buying a better education for Australian children. In fact, as private school revenues and enrolments have surged, Australia’s performance on international tests has declined.
‘Wealthy schools are free to charge parents a fortune while still receiving taxpayer funding.
‘This double-dipping is not allowed in many other countries, and it’s clearly not helping Australia’s students, the economy or the Commonwealth budget.’
The Australia Institute found Australian families pay some of the most expensive high school fees in the world (pictured Melbourne Grammar students)
The data showed Australia was well ahead of other comparable countries for school fees
The Kings School in Sydney in among Australia’s most well regarded… and expensive
Mr Denniss urged for Australia to reconsider its funding model for secondary education.
‘Schools which can afford to build things like indoor swimming pools and rifle ranges should not be receiving taxpayer dollars,’ he said.
‘Diverting money from rich private schools into public schools would help level the playing field and would simultaneously encourage families to send their children to public schools, which would save them a small fortune.
‘Government policy has created a two-tier education system and it’s not helping Australia. Indeed, it’s not even keeping private school fees down.
‘It’s time to admit the system needs radical reform rather than more tinkering around the edges.’
