Ed Affair

It seems that when there is a slow news week in education, the rise in school fees - especially in private school fees - always guarantees some noise in the media. An article by SMH (31/12/05) called “School fees lock in the smartest”, reported that some private schools are asking parents to

“pay huge, non-refundable enrolment fees more than a year in advance, in a move critics say is aimed at keeping the smartest students away from selective public schools.”

With the number of year 6 students sitting for the selective high school exams increasing and becoming more competitive, private schools are resorting to this method in an effort to lock in the more academically-gifted students that have private schools as their alternative choice. This in turn reflects well on the school when these students perform well in state-wide exams such as the HSC.

As well as asking for high enrolment fees, annual fees have also risen at Sydney’s top private schools with Shore passing the $20,000 a year mark and The King’s School and Sydney Grammar close behind. The schools cite building repairs and salary costs of additional teachers to reduce class sizes as the main reasons for the increase.

An article by the Guardian late last year stated that Australia was the country of choice for Asian international students due to cheaper fees, cheaper cost of living and their desire to settle here after they had finished studying. The US and UK in the meantime experienced a drop in applications because of the London bombings and the US clampdown on foreign students after September 11.

But in a few short months this sentiment has changed, as The Australian reports.

“The boom in overseas students studying in Australian universities appears to be at an end as global security fears and the rising dollar make this country less appealing internationally”

Another factor is that Asian countries in the Asia-Pacific region are starting to invest more into universities, making it more attractive for students to study locally. This is a concerning factor for Australian universities as international students have become a critical source of income, especially as government funding has declined. The passing of VSU legislation will mean that many of the services offered by universities will cease, making them even less attractive to foreign students.

The US on the otherhand, has just announced a review of the number of student visas issued as well as a new language initiative for schools to teach “non-traditional” languages such as Chinese, Arabic, Hindi and Farsi. This is new initiative is being undertaken in the interest of national security as the Bush government has discovered there is a shortage of Americans who speak these languages. In the words of Bush

“Learning somebody else’s language is a kind gesture, and a gesture of interest. It is a fundamental way to reach out to somebody and say, ‘I care about you.’ I want you to know that I’m interested in not only how you talk but how you live.”

Already, Chinese language centres called the Confucius Institute, are aligning themselves with US universities such as the University of Maryland with five others expected to open soon and twelve more are under discussion.

It is quite astounding to note that while the US has a higher number of immigrants from many more countries than Australia, it is only now that they are providing resources and programs to educate people about different nationalities. Obviously Hispanic culture is the most dominant in the US but for a country that prides itself on being ahead of everyone else, they seem a bit slow on the uptake in this case.