Education must be about freedom of choice

Moreover, critics do not appreciate that public funding to independent schools increasingly is based on the socio-economic status of students that reduces accordingly. Critics never appreciate that government schools with similar student profiles are not so penalised.

Most importantly, critics of the dual-education model that has developed in Australia since the 1960s overlook the fact we do not have an education system dominated by a monopoly supplier - the government, where one size fits all. Instead, we have choice and, dare we say it, competition. This keeps both systems honest.

The problem is that it is not a level playing field for the non-government sector. It is regulated by government education departments that are also providers of a competing but increasingly unfavoured service.

Let's have a real level playing field in education and attach the dollars to the student rather than to systems.

Let parents make the choice of what school and let the dollars flow accordingly. My prediction is that, if this was allowed, public school enrolments would decline even faster unless the public education system became more responsive to education needs, parental demands and quality education outcomes.