Why parents are really opting for private schools

3 months ago 10

A growing number of parents are choosing to enrol their children in religious private schools, despite the proportion of students who identify as having no religion almost doubling over the decade.

Over the past five years, independent schools gained more students than any other sector, particularly in regional NSW, where enrolments jumped by 4.3 per cent, with 13,659 students joining their local private school.

Faith-based independent schools are experiencing some of the biggest growth, a trend demographer Mark McCrindle has described as “remarkable” and signifies a shift in society.

Siblings Josiah, 13, Noah, 7, and Adeline, 10, recently enrolled to Pacific Coast Christian School in Tweed Heads.

“You’ve got a significant proportion of the population who even though they might be secular in mindset are looking for the values of that faith, and they want that for their children, and they see that in these independent schools,” McCrindle said.

The trend is particularly prominent in regional NSW, as enrolments in private schools grow in Tweed, the Mid North Coast and Newcastle.

“These schools are clearly meeting a need beyond congregational or parish life,” he said. Instead, parents are attracted to the schools’ “values” and “community approach”.

“It tells us that hard secularism is actually not where mainstream Australian families are at. They might not be particularly religious in their own practice, but it doesn’t mean that they’re of no belief and completely secular in approach.”

The Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW), the peak body for the state’s private schools, released a report this week showing private schools enrol 19.5 per cent of all students, up from 13.1 per cent in 2000.

Over the past five years, NSW public schools have lost 25,337 students, the report shows, with regional state schools experiencing a decline of 21,999 students.

Across all NSW schools, the percentage of students identifying as non-religious has increased from 20 per cent in 2011 to 37 per cent in 2021, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In the regions, Tweed had the highest growth of independent students, gaining almost 6 per cent more students between 2019 and 2024. In the same time, government schools lost 3.5 per cent of students.

Nearly 27 per cent of all students in independent schools are attending an Anglican school, followed by Catholic independent (18 per cent), Christian (16 per cent), secular (12 per cent) and Islamic (9 per cent).

For Tweed Heads parents Josh and Alice Neale, their local independent school, Pacific Coast Christian School, was attractive due to its religious background. They have enrolled their three children in the school, due to the school’s “great faith values”.

“Education is really important, but it’s not just the maths, science and English [that matter], but also their character development,” Josh Neale said.

“The thing that jumped out to me was their focus on character improvement. We feel our kids are fully known here. It’s easy to fall under the radar in the public system, but here we felt our kids were known on the first day.”

Principal James van Gelderen said he finds parents appreciate the school’s moral values. The school has boomed in popularity, however, a significant proportion of students are not religious.

“We are a Christian school, but we cater for people of every faith background. It’s for everybody wanting a faith-based school,” he said.

“We have had families move from overseas, Nepal, India, who are Hindu, who are still wanting our Christian values and beliefs.”

The Tweed region, Blacktown, south-west Sydney and the Mid North Coast were some of the areas to show the most significant growth in private school enrolments.

Tweed parent Beck Franco isn’t religious, and sent one of her children to a private school and the other to a public. She wants to move both her kids to independent schools after being impressed by the private school’s values “underpinned by religion”.

“They provide stability and structure, and it’s quite a nurturing tight-knit community. There is great communication. I feel like when you are paying for an education, they are more accountable,” she said.

An audit of enrolment growth in NSW found the top areas for student growth in the past five years were the south-west and north-west growth corridors.

School enrolments in suburbs including Marsden Park, Denham Court, Gledswood Hills, Gregory Hills and Jordan Springs last year were double the predicted numbers in 2016.

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