4221.0 - Schools, Australia, 2009  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/07/2010  Reissue
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MAIN FEATURES


SCHOOLS

The number of schools in Australia has decreased over the past 10 years from 9,587 schools in 1999, to 9,529 schools in 2009. This represented a decrease of 165 government schools, and an increase of 4 Catholic schools, and 103 independent schools (see NSSC Table 31a).

A higher proportion of primary schools were government schools (77%) compared with secondary schools (72%) and combined schools (of which 39% were government affiliated).

After excluding special schools, in 2009, 70% of schools were primary, 16% were secondary only and 14% were combined primary and secondary schools (see NSSC Table 30a).


STUDENTS

While the number of schools has decreased, the number of students has increased over the past decade. There were around 3,484,700 students in 2009, an increase of 230,300 students since 1999. More than 99% of the students in 2009 were enrolled on a full-time basis and around 66% of the full-time students in 2009 were enrolled in government schools, down from 70% in 1999. Students enrolled in government schools accounted for 11% (26,200) of the increase in full-time student numbers, while students in non-government schools accounted for 89% (208,400) of the increase since 1999 (see NSSC Tables 42a and 42b).

Number of primary school students, government and non-government schools - 1999 to 2009
Graph: Number of primary school students, government and non-government schools - 1999 to 2009


Number of secondary school students, government and non-government schools - 1999 to 2009
Graph: Number of secondary school students, government and non-government schools - 1999 to 2009


In 2009 there were around 23,300 part-time students. The number of part-time students decreased by 16% between 1999 and 2009. Around 79% of part-time students were enrolled in secondary schools (see NSSC Tables 41a and 41b).


INDIGENOUS STUDENTS

In 2009, there were around 155,500 Indigenous full-time school students, an increase of 2.5% since 2008 and 46% since 1999. Indigenous students represented 4.5% of all Australian full-time students. In the Northern Territory, Indigenous students were 40% of the full-time student population while they comprised 1% of the Victorian student population (see table 40a).

The apparent retention rate for full-time Indigenous students from their first year of secondary school, through to year 12 in 2009 was 45% compared with 77% for non-Indigenous students. From 1999 the apparent retention rate to year 12 increased by 11 percentage points for Indigenous students and 4 percentage points for non-Indigenous students (see Table 64a).


STAFF

Along with the number of school students, the number of teaching staff has increased over the past 10 years. There were 249,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff in 2009. This was 16% more than in 1999. The majority (65%) of FTE teaching staff worked in government schools with 35% at non-government schools (see NSSC Table 51a).

Government FTE teaching staff accounted for 36% of the increase in FTE teaching staff numbers from 1999 to 2009 while non-government FTE teaching staff accounted for 64% of the increase (see NSSC Table 51a).

Number of FTE teaching staff in primary and secondary schools, by sex - 2009
Graph: Number of FTE teaching staff in primary and secondary schools, by sex - 2009


In 2009, of all FTE teaching staff, 69% were female and 31% were male. A higher proportion of FTE teaching staff in primary schools were female (80%) compared with teaching staff in secondary schools (58% female) (see NSSC Table 51a).

FTE students to teaching staff ratios, government and non-government schools - 1999 to 2009
Graph: FTE students to teaching staff ratios, government and non-government schools - 1999 to 2009


In 2009, there were on average 15.8 FTE students for every FTE teaching staff in primary schools and 12.0 students for every teaching staff in secondary schools. The students to teaching staff ratio was similar in government and non-government schools. In government primary schools for example, there were 15.5 students for every teaching staff, compared with 16.5 students for every teaching staff in non-government primary schools. For government secondary schools, there were 12.3 students for every teaching staff compared with 11.7 students for every teaching staff in non-government secondary schools (see NSSC Table 53a).