In an article published by the Sydney Morning Herald on March 10th, 2017, Christina Ho (a senior

lecturer in Social and Political Sciences at UTS Sydney) stated:

” Ultimately, most students sitting for the selective schools test this week will be
unsuccessful in securing a place. And based on current trends, we can confidently predict
who will be successful: the majority will come from the most advantaged groups in our
society, often from Asian migrant families. Virtually none will be from the most
disadvantaged groups.” (Ho, 2017)

With her research showing “…in 2015, an average of 74 per cent of students in Sydney’s selective
schools were drawn from the most advantaged quarter, compared to only 2 per cent from the
bottom quarter”, (Ho, 2016) there are questions that need to be raised as to the social and
educational equity of the selective school system.

The purpose of this essay is to combine key Marxist theoretical constructs with corroborative
evidence (based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research) to illustrate the
educational inequity inherent within the selective high school model in New South Wales.
Comparisons and contrasts based on issues such as out of school coaching, student ethnicity and
family heritage, and teacher ratios will demonstrate that by creating a ‘clique’ of elite schools and
students, economic power as an educational advantage is reinforced. This has the added problem of
placing these schools apart the more diverse comprehensive high school system, not just on
supposed academic excellence. Finally, I shall draw upon my own personal experiences and
reflections to consider the validity of Ho’s concerns regarding advantage and selective high schools.

It is of value to consider Marxist theory as an interpretative theoretical framework for this analysis,
as there are certain constructs within this schema that pertain particularly to the equity issues that
may be identified via the selective school paradigm. As articulated by Peter Kell in ‘Sociology of
Education: Possibilities and Practice’, Marxist education theory includes the construct that
“Schooling has a vital role in the functional and symbolic aspects of hegemony by generating some
of the myths of capitalism such as 'work hard and get ahead' and 'the system rewards individual
achievement regardless of background” (Allen, 2001).

Marxist education theory also provides insight into the inherent tension between equality and
equity of educational aims, as opposed to competition and academic grading “…to have children
achieve against each other for purposes of ultimate occupational allocation.” (Levitas, 2012).
Selective high schools are described in NSW Department of Education public information as catering
“…for gifted and talented students who have superior to very superior academic ability which is
matched by exceptionally high classroom performance. These schools can provide intellectual
stimulation by grouping together gifted and talented students who may otherwise be isolated from a
suitable peer group.” (NSW Department of Education, 2015) It may thus be observed in a Marxist
interpretative context that the selective high school model is the apogee of creating a competitive
educational model for future personal economic power.

Additionally, if one reflects on the evidence cited above by Christina Ho, the social and economic
student advantages within NSW selective high schools reflect the Neo-Marxist arguments of Bowles
and Gintis. In their 1975 article ‘The Long Shadow of Work’, they saw how inequality in the capitalist
economy is reflected in the educational context (Bowles and Gintis, 1975). With selective high
schools representing approximately 10% of all NSW high schools in 2015 and in the region of 13 of
all enrolments (NSW Department of Education, 2016), this nominally academic stratification has
effectively created an ‘elite’ that is separate from the clear majority of students in the NSW high
school system.
However, the selective high school system in New South Wales and the associated creation of a
higher echelon of academic achievers is not strictly based on inherent academic capabilities.
Christina Ho has identified in both her previously cited newspaper articles the extra-mural
phenomenon of private colleges and coaching, with the aim of improving students’ results for the
selective high school entrance exams. In reflection on the growing industry of commercial tutoring
and its pedagogical implications in the primary school context (Sriprakash, Proctor & Hu, 2016), one
may argue that the coaching paradigm is defined at this educational stage and continues into the
selective high school system. This conclusion is facilitated by the advertising content placed online
by the tutoring companies themselves:

“My daughter attended the year 5 selective class at Master Coaching Hurstville and I am
pleased to announce she has just been accepted into Caringbah High School for year 7 next
year (2015). Caringbah High was our first choice, but her mark of 218 was enough for her to
be able to go to her second choice of St. George Girls High as well.” (Master Coaching, 2017)

The additional cost of paying for these private tutoring services, with the explicit aim (among others)
of meeting the testing requirements of the selective high school system is implicitly unavailable to
those from a lower socio-economic status. In the neoliberal New South Wales education system that
“…reflects the ideology of the free market,” (Stacey, 2016), fee charging private tutoring companies
that coach students for selective high school exams is an arch capitalist tool undermining
educational equity.

The economic power and class stratification inherent within the NSW selective high school system is
graphically illustrated when comparing data from selective and comprehensive schools, as seen via
the MySchool website. For example, in the Nepean area there are two public high schools within a
small geographic radius, with one being a selective high school (Penrith High School), the other
comprehensive (Kingswood High School). As per the statistical information provided by this site,
Penrith High saw 70% of its 2016 enrolments drawn from students with the highest quarter of Index
of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ACARA, 2017). Kingswood High School on the other
hand drew only 3% of its enrolments from the highest quarter of students based on their ICSEA
value. This information corroborates Christina Ho’s thesis that socio-educational advantage (which
includes as a corollary the occupational background of the students’ families) is becoming more and
more polarised in favour of the selective high schools.

The MySchool data for these two schools provide further indicators as to the inequality of their
relative status when it comes to funding and Full Time Effective Teaching Staff. In 2015 Penrith High
School operated with a net recurrent income of $10,810,452 ($11,529 per student) with 63.6 FTETS,
whilst Kingswood operated on $10,793,163 ($15,036 per student) with 58.9 FTETS. Whilst
Kingswood High School does have a higher revenue value per student, this has not translated to
quantity of full-time teachers commensurate with the disparity of ICSEA results between this school
and Penrith High School. If one considers the socio-educational background and associated
economic advantage held by students at Penrith High School, the distribution factor of full time
teaching staff and net revenues must be significantly greater yet again in favour of Kingswood High
School if it was to properly redress the relative imbalance.

That there is an exaggerated disparity between the academic achievements of the relevant students
between these schools, influenced by the inequitable distribution of resources and cultivated by the
economic and socio-educational backgrounds of these schools is observable in results data. As per
statistics provided via the MySchool website Penrith High School performed substantially above the
Australian school advantage in Years 7 and 9 NAPLAN testing for each criterion (reading, writing,
spelling, grammar and punctuation, numeracy). Kingswood High School fell either below or
substantially below the averages against same statistical criteria. High School Certificate results and
rankings also underline the advantages held by the selective school against the comprehensive
school. The Better Education web site (2017) shows that Penrith High School ranked 32nd in NSW
with 156 students undertaking the HSC in 2016 of which 32.1% attained the rating of ‘Distinguished
Achievers’. Kingswood High ranked 546th in NSW with only one ‘Distinguished Achiever’ result. These
results bear out the constructs inherent in the Marxist critique cited previously in this essay, where
educational success and background are irrevocably linked, as directed by the neoliberal selective
high school paradigm.

Ho’s contention in her Sydney Morning Herald and Guardian articles regarding ethnicity and
selective schooling also bears examination within a Marxist critical framework, so as to identify
inequities within this educational context. She states in the latter article (based on MySchool data)
that:

“…at James Ruse, 97% of students were from a LBOTE (Language Background Other Than
English) in 2015. Across Sydney, LBOTE students regularly make up 80 or 90% of enrolments
in selective schools. Most of these students are children of migrants from various Asian
countries, especially China, Korea, other east and south-east Asian countries, and
increasingly, India and south Asia.”

Sue Saltmarsh (2016) draws comparative observations on the nexus between ethnicity, class and the
selective high school paradigm. In discussing the Asian-centric engagement with elite education in
the wider context of Australian government policy she sees definite economic and political
ramifications for the high engagement by Asian students with the selective high school model. There
are also ramifications for the movement of Anglo-Saxon Australian students into independent
schools because of this ethnically polarised educational structure.

Returning to the comparative data for Penrith High School and Kingswood High School, according to
MySchool 83% of all students enrolled at the selective high school came from a LBOTE, whereas in
the latter instance 22% of Kingswood’s enrolments were from an other than English language
background. Considering that 2011 Census data shows that the Penrith State Electorate area has
approximately 86.2% with English as the sole language spoken at home (ABS, 2011), there is a
substantial ethno-linguistic variation between Penrith High School’s student background and the
nominal catchment area within which it exists.

The most significant implication one may observe as a result of the economic, academic and ethno-
linguistic stratification of education by way of the selective high school model is the potential for a
so-called ‘white working class’ within contemporary Australian society to become further
disempowered, further marginalised. The educational outcomes as seen in the situation at
Kingswood High School may be indicative of this trend, with students from that school becoming less
able to participate in an economically dynamic, academically gifted, ethno-linguistically
monocultural society.

When I consider my own experiences of high school, where I was able to transcend the determinist
construct that a Marxist perspective on my education may take, this informs my empathy with the
thesis posited by Christina Ho.

As a student at Kingswood High School who graduated with the HSC in 1983, I was never placed into
a marginalised position vis-à-vis my educational opportunities or outcomes based on my socio-
educational status or my ethno-linguistic heritage. Whilst at that time, in the pre-Dawkins reform era
when university was not seen as a logical end for completing one’s Higher School Certificate, there
were no selective public high schools in the local area and thus no imperatives to seek academic
distinction outside the comprehensive public school model. My academic record was of sufficient
merit to gain admission to three universities (one of which at that time was a College of Advanced
Education), and my tertiary record includes a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Letters (the latter
completed at Distinction level).

Considering my background, which was Anglo-Saxon lower middle class with parents who had
limited income, it is possible that if I was studying at a comprehensive public high school today I
would be far more disadvantaged than those who attend a selective high school, and thus
potentially less likely to break the determinist education outcome posited by Marxist theory. The
Marxist theoretical model that I have applied in this essay helps us to understand the hegemonic,
neoliberal class-based discriminations that are inherent within the polarised NSW public high school
system, and it is further informed by the evidence cited previously. Finally, my own personal
experience and current reflections inform my concerns over the equity and equality issues inherent
with the NSW selective high school paradigm. I can recognise, understand and empathise with ideas
posited by Christina Ho in her Sydney Morning Herald article.

References:

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011), 2011 Census Quick Stats: Penrith SED, Retrieved from
http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/SED
10067?opendocument&navpos=220

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2017) MySchool: Penrith High School,
Retrieved from
https://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolProfile/Index/105173/PenrithHighSchool/41806/2016

- (2017) MySchool: Kingswood High School, Retrieved from

https://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolProfile/Index/94593/KingswoodHighSchool/41826/20
15

Better Education (2017) Compare High Schools by HSC 2016, Retrieved from
http://bettereducation.com.au/CompareSchools/year_12/nsw/compare_secondary_schools
_by_hsc.aspx

Bowles, S., Gintis, H. and Meyer, P. (1975) The Long Shadow of Work Critical Sociology 5 (4). 3-22.
Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/089692057500500401

Ho, C. (2017, March 9). Bastions of inequality: selective schools increasingly cater to the most
advantaged students. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au

- (2016, October 27). Hothoused and hyper-racialised: the ethnic imbalance in our selective
schools. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com

Kell, P. (2004). 'A Teacher's Tool Kit: Sociology and Social Theory Explaining the World'. In J. Allen
(Ed.), Sociology of Education: Possibilities and Practice (pp. 29-51). Southbank, Vic. Social
Science Press

Levitas, M. (1974) Marxist Perspectives in the Sociology of Education, London, United Kingdom.
Routledge & Kegan Paul
Master Coaching (2017), Testimonials, Retrieved from
http://mymastercoach.com.au/testimonials/page/2/

NSW Department of Education (2015), Going To A Public School: Secondary Schools – Selective High
Schools, Retrieved from
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/types/selectiveschools.php

NSW Department of Education (2016), Full-time enrolment in NSW government schools (1993-
2015), Retrieved from https://data.cese.nsw.gov.au/data/dataset/enrolments-fte-in-nsw-
government-schools

Saltmarsh, S. (2016). 'Elite Education in the Australian Context'. In C. Maxwell & P. Aggleton (Eds.),
Elite Education: International Perspectives (pp. 42-54). Milton Park, Oxon, UK. Routledge

Sriprakash, A., Proctor, H. and Hu, B. (2016) Visible pedagogic work: parenting, private tutoring and
educational advantage in Australia Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 37
(3). 426-441. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2015.1061976

Stacey, M. (2016) Middle-class parents’ educational work in an academically selective public high
school Critical Studies in Education 57 (2). 209-223. Retrieved from http://www-tandfonline-
com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/17508487.2015.1043312