A Wyndham councillor has voiced concerns about the concentration of private schools in the area.
Cr Josh Gilligan said there was a clear over-provision of private-sector schools in Wyndham, and, according to the Wyndham North and Wyndham West precinct structure plans, 45 per cent of secondary schools and 31 per cent of primary schools planned over the next 20 years will be non-government schools.
Currently, nearly two-fifths of all Wyndham schools are non-government schools, with 19 Catholic or independent schools in the area compared to 30 government schools.
“Catholic students in Victoria only make up 25 per cent of secondary school kids. There are some serious imbalances there,” Cr Gilligan said.
“Census data will show you that the population that were Catholic in Wyndham actually declined substantially by four per cent from the 2011 Census to the 2016 Census, yet we’ve essentially got double the average number of schools that are Catholic or independent.
“There’s cases where developers are working very closely with private providers because, frankly it’s easier to get schools through in terms of approval than it is for public schools to be built.”
Cr Gilligan said the current ratio was unfair to families who could not afford, or did not want to pay, for a private education.
“Disposable incomes here are not as high as in other parts of the state, and therefore there is an expectation that the state provides this where possible.”
But Wyndham council chief executive Kelly Grigsby said planning for private schools was a necessity due to demand.
“This council has made government education provision for children and young people in Wyndham a priority. We have a growing number of children in Wyndham, and are advocating with the community to secure government funding and adequate infrastructure to meet education needs.”
