Private, public schools on par: study
Students at Perth public schools achieve similar results to students at expensive private schools, according to a new analysis by public education advocacy group Save Our Schools.
The national study compares the most recent Year 9 NAPLAN reading results on the My School website of schools with similar socioeconomic make-ups.
It shows that government, Catholic and independent schools with a high-to- medium Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage ranking are on a par in metropolitan WA.
It found that the results of Perth public schools with an ICSEA ranking above 1150 exceeded the results of Catholic and independent schools with similar rankings.
Two public schools - Perth Modern School and Shenton College - are ranked 1150 or higher.
The high-ranked band included one Catholic and 13 independent schools, such as Christ Church Grammar School and St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls.
Public, Catholic and independent schools with an ICSEA ranking between 1100 to 1149 - a bracket that includes five public, five Catholic and 11 independent - were found to have achieved similar results.
Schools with a "medium" ranking between 950 and 1099 achieved comparable results. There was no Catholic or independent schools in the "low" range of 800 to 949.
SOS national convener Trevor Cobbold said the study proved public schools were a good choice and parents should not be beguiled by misleading private school marketing.
Mr Cobbold said public, Catholic and independent schools with a similar socioeconomic composition had "very similar" results in almost all States and the ACT.
"Our study shows that the often presumed better results of private schools are a myth," Mr Cobbold said.
"Our research has shown it is simply not true when you compare like with like."
Association of Independent Schools of WA deputy director Ron Gorman said parents chose where to send their children based on far more than NAPLAN results.
"Parents really do want a school that is going to match their values and their understanding of what they want when they send their child to a school," Mr Gorman said.
Parents and Friends Federation of WA executive officer Shelley Hill, who represents Catholic school parents, said parents chose Catholic schools for a variety of reasons.
She said many would choose a Catholic school because "it is a faith-based Catholic school offering a well-rounded education".
