In this article, reporter Joanna Pachner describes how complex the process of enrolling your child into a private school is. On top of it all, the costly scarifices that are made by parents are amazing. I retrieved this article online at CBC.ca
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/education/private-schools.html
The article starts off describing the differences that set these private schools apart from regular public schools. The competition amoung the private schools can be very high, each school trying to set themselves apart from the rest. Whether the difference is in religion, special subject areas, or gender. The reputation for high prices, smaller classes, and focus on certain criteria; all set them apart from public schools. Every parent would want their child to have the best education to broaden their horizons for their future, but no matter how you word it, what exactly is a good education? Can it be compared with the fees each student's family pays? Can it be judged by the reputation of a school? Would a good education be based on which type of school you went to? Or does it just come down to the student him/herself? The articles explains how no matter the reputation of a school, or focus area of a school the bottome line is the money it takes to keep the student in school after they have been enrolled. Parents can pay from $5000 to $14000 depending on whether they stay at home or go outside of Canada. A general rule amoung these schools is that the high fees are for the specialized programs they offer compared to the "standard" programs of public schools. Now that is only the tuition, the fees for food, books, and other learning material are extra, as well as the application fees and any school field trips and uniforms. So why would parents go through all this trouble? Especially middle-class parents who really do work hard for their paychecks? They do it for their children and all they want is what is best for them.
In my opinion, private schools do have a lot to offer. Due to the demand of upper class and middle class families for higher specialized education for their children, private schools know how to make money. However with the high demand, the supply does not increase, therefore the competition to get into a school can be demanding. I state at the supply does not increase, because the number of private schools is much lower than public schools. In Vancouver I can name only a handful of them. Whereas I could name over 15 different public schools both elementary and secondary. Because parents have the belief that with a higher price brings higher education, private schools are not elastic. No matter how great the price is some parents are still willing to pay it.
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2 comments:
Hi Jocelyn!
Yeah, I don't get why parents would be willing to pay such a great amount of money to send their kids to private schools, I definately agree with what you wrote. Private schools are making a lot of money because they have a "better education system" than public schools, yeah right! Could be true, but I don't think there's a big difference, they're probably just more strict. On the other hand I would have thought the demand for it would be low 'cause I don't think a majority of the people would send their kids to private schools, but again the other half of the people probably want to. Supply, demand, I think I know where you're getting at, great post :)
Good point there. I agree with you that private schools are elastic because it is true that no matter the amount, parents are still willing to pay the price just so their child/children are able to have a "better education". I believe that no matter where a student goes, it's all up to them on how they adapt to their environment. If they are able to adapt well then their school marks shouldn't be affeted. Public school students do just as well as private school students do. Education should be something free, not something that parents should have to fight for to get their children into the "right" school.
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