Private school students miss lessons of real life
By Chloe Bugelly
April 22, 2005
It is no wonder private school kids do poorly at uni. They're ill-prepared.
When I entered university, I was worn out and drained of motivation. It seemed as though the hard work had finished. I had achieved the goals that were emphasised so strongly throughout my 13 years of private school education - I had been accepted into a well-regarded university course and received an ENTER score in the 90s.
Like my private school colleagues, I felt overwhelmed and ill-prepared in those first few daunting university semesters. Although I persisted so I could forge a career in my chosen field, several of my school friends simply could not adapt to independent learning and, after years of teachers spoon-feeding them with knowledge, they opted out because university made them feel incompetent.
A recent Monash University study revealed that students educated at public schools are outperforming their private school counterparts in university, but gain a much smaller proportion of university places. This is hardly surprising, when you consider how sheltered the private school student becomes.
Private schools are businesses. The constant focus on academic results is a competitive one and private schools will often use recent student ENTER scores as the theme of marketing campaigns. This pressure to achieve the highest number up to 99.99, is felt by both students and teachers. As a high result reflects well on the teacher, teachers put extensive time in with students, are generous when predicting individual subject scores (a VTAC requirement) and hold numerous extra study sessions throughout holiday periods and at weekends, to ensure the result is a pleasing one.
For fee-paying parents, this seems like a good thing. Public schools rarely run such programs but, unlike most private schools, students in government schools have been learning for years how to mix with a culturally and socially diverse group of students. They have had to use their initiative to make the most of limited resources and know that to achieve, they have to actively seek help.
Private schools need to put less emphasis on the ENTER score and focus on encouraging independent learning skills. It is startling to see that the majority of private school educated students do not socially interact with those who have come out of the public school system.
This elitist attitude is also a result of private schools ignoring the importance of life skills, such as community awareness and interaction outside the upper socioeconomic strata.
Perhaps if private schools focus more on the welfare of students once they venture outside the school gates, students wouldn't find university such a social and academic challenge. Private schools must encourage students to take a more active role in their own learning and teach children not only what is on the curriculum, but about life in the real world.
Chloe Bugelly is a third-year journalism student at RMIT University.
