Do the Rich Rule Selective Schools?? (1 Viewer)

[Drongoski]

Just saw a report in a local paper headlined: "Claims rich rule selective school", in this particular case referring To James Ruse. I have read many reports over the years that claim that the selective schools favour the rich and many want to do away with selective schools altogether or at least modify their selection criteria, e.g. to opening up to local enrolments or providing more opportunities to locals. Current NSW Education Minister is apparently averse to selective schools.

Many of you on Bored attend selective schools. From what you know of your school mates and yourselves, are your parents rich or can they be described as such? From what I am able to observe, most of them are not. Maybe most reports conclude they are rich because they have a higher socio-economic background. But this view is very incorrect and unfair. It is probably true that most of the students, e.g. from China, Taiwan and Korea, are university graduates, many with advanced degrees. But because their qualifications are not recognised and/or because the have English language handicap, most are unable to find jobs in their areas of qualification. So as Miss Yan Zhai of North Sydney Girls, in her brave and excellent opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald pointed out recently, most tertiary-qualified parents end up doing blue collar jobs and can hardly be described as rich. I myself suspect that selective school students do not come from rich families. If this is indeed the case, then you should all debunk this myth.

Let us have your input.

 

[1729]

Just saw a report in a local paper headlined: "Claims rich rule selective school", in this particular case referring To James Ruse. I have read many reports over the years that claim that the selective schools favour the rich and many want to do away with selective schools altogether or at least modify their selection criteria, e.g. to opening up to local enrolments or providing more opportunities to locals. Current NSW Education Minister is apparently averse to selective schools.

Many of you on Bored attend selective schools. From what you know of your school mates and yourselves, are your parents rich or can they be described as such? From what I am able to observe, most of them are not. Maybe most reports conclude they are rich because they have a higher socio-economic background. But this view is very incorrect and unfair. It is probably true that most of the students, e.g. from China, Taiwan and Korea, are university graduates, many with advanced degrees. But because their qualifications are not recognised and/or because the have English language handicap, most are unable to find jobs in their areas of qualification. So as Miss Yan Zhai of North Sydney Girls, in her brave and excellent opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald pointed out recently, most tertiary-qualified parents end up doing blue collar jobs and can hardly be described as rich. I myself suspect that selective school students do not come from rich families. If this is indeed the case, then you should all debunk this myth.

Let us have your input.

506814 tutors (each subject)

 

[Drongoski]

506814 tutors (each subject)

Correct.

But did you attend a selective school? If so, would you regard your family as rich?

 

[30june2016]

As a former top selective school student, I can confirm that a lot of us were NOT from well-off backgrounds - our families used the money they had to send us to tutoring and found other ways to save money somehow. Most families had migrated to Australia with not much money in the hopes of giving their children a 'good' future.

OR, some had families that worked very hard and laborious long hours to be able to send their kids to tutoring without worrying too much about their financial situation (this was the case of my family)

Like, tutoring is viewed as a 'priority' bc it supposedly helps kids with their future, meaning it's a worthwhile investment in the eyes of most parents

Also, I'm very proud of Yan Zhai and her article on SMH - I agree with the topics she raised.

 

[Drongoski]

As a former top selective school student, I can confirm that a lot of us were NOT from well-off backgrounds - our families used the money they had to send us to tutoring and found other ways to save money somehow. Most families had migrated to Australia with not much money in the hopes of giving their children a 'good' future.

OR, some had families that worked very hard and laborious long hours to be able to send their kids to tutoring without worrying too much about their financial situation (this was the case of my family)

Like, tutoring is viewed as a 'priority' bc it supposedly helps kids with their future, meaning it's a worthwhile investment in the eyes of most parents

Also, I'm very proud of Yan Zhai and her article on SMH - I agree with the topics she raised.

I hope someone like you should tell your story to help debunk this nonsense being presented to the public unchallenged. Whatever the merit of the selective school system, recent agitation to dismantle or to change the character of selective schools in an assault of those of you who have worked hard, and whose parents have sacrificed so much for their children's future, is based on a lot of falsehood. I hope many of you, ex students of Ruse, Baulko, North Sydney Boys, North Sydney Girls, Sydney Boy, Sydney Girls etc etc, should speak out and tell the truth.

I don't know where they get this idea that Ruse (and by extension other selective schools) parents are rich. Of cause a few of them may happen to be rich. I happen to know of many Chinese migrant parents who have low-paid jobs and are prepared to sacrifice so much for their children.

 

[fan96]

Do the Rich Rule Selective Schools??

From what I can see, the answer is no.

I go to a top 5 selective school and I've never been under the impression that most, or even many people have rich parents. I can definitely name a few people who have a reputation for $$$ but I think most of us can be described as "well-off, but not rich".

Many people bring old (4+ years) or low spec phones/laptops to school, suggesting that their families may not be able to afford the latest tech.

There aren't many people who live in areas like Inner Sydney, North Shore or the Eastern Suburbs ("rich" areas). Most are probably from suburbs in or around Hurstville, Epping, Bankstown, Strathfield etc.

There is a really heavy tutoring culture here for the senior years, though that's no surprise for a school like this, but it's only widespread in Maths (and to some extent Chemistry/Physics) and I doubt only a rich family could pay the fees.

 

[doggossigh]

Kind of. I go to a top 5 selective school and a lot of the people there are richer than the average person/family, but definitely not to the extent that we are pouring out money. It is definitely NOT comparable to a private school. There is also an equal amount of people who aren't as wealthy, with a low household income. Moving from my top 30 school to the top 5 school, I did see a slight difference but it's definitely not as much as 'rich' and 'wealthy' that they are throwing money to tutors. Most of us are earning just enough to cover everything, and scraping money just to pay for tutoring.

 

[pikachu975]

Basically what us catholic/private school people pay for school fees, the selective school people use for tutoring which I guess balances out so they're not all rich it's pretty much the same.

 

[HoldingOn]

Basically what us catholic/private school people pay for school fees, the selective school people use for tutoring which I guess balances out so they're not all rich it's pretty much the same.

Is tutoring really that expensive?

 

[pikachu975]

Is tutoring really that expensive?

Probs more expensive depending on where you go... and most selective kids go to like matrix/du/zhangs etc which are like 1k a semester per subject

 

[andrew12678]

Kind of. I go to a top 5 selective school and a lot of the people there are richer than the average person/family, but definitely not to the extent that we are pouring out money. It is definitely NOT comparable to a private school. There is also an equal amount of people who aren't as wealthy, with a low household income. Moving from my top 30 school to the top 5 school, I did see a slight difference but it's definitely not as much as 'rich' and 'wealthy' that they are throwing money to tutors. Most of us are earning just enough to cover everything, and scraping money just to pay for tutoring.

Seconding this post

 

[Jolteon]

I go to a mid-range selective school where kids usually have around 2 tutors (English and Maths) but you wouldn't call them rich. Just well-off - and even the kids who have 3-4 tutors (Sciences/4u maths etc) still wouldn't regard themselves as rich - just well-off.

But the kids who do go tutoring do study hard and give up their own time to attend lessons.

 

[RenegadeMx]

na its just the poor, white aussie kids dont value education /thread

 

[millennialpink]

Chiming in from a James Ruse student's perspective.

There's a huge range, from kids who are not well off at all (meaning cramped apartments, parents working blue-collar jobs, hardly even enough rooms let alone one especially for study, etc.) to the very wealthy (we're talking millionaires, parents are rich lawyers or doctors or businessmen or whatever). I know people in my grade who are both of these, and of course the kids in between. I come from a comfortably middle-class family, not insanely rich but definitely have more than enough to live very well.

I do believe that the idea that selective school kids' parents are always well off is very damaging. You cannot categorise top selective schools as a place where the rich send their kids - that would be private school. There are a lot of kids at my school who are naturally smart, and although 90% go tutoring, some of them have parents who could not afford that kind of luxury. They study themselves, and they still do extremely well.

You guys may not believe me, but I do not go tutoring *gasp* except for maths, only because at ruse it is hyper-competitive (and I'm not even doing 4U!). Current atar is sitting at a comfortable 99.

TLDR: The rich DO NOT rule selective schools, but the hardworking and motivated do.

 

[Drongoski]

Thank you very much, millennial .. for sharing your story. This is the kind of contribution I'm hoping for.

 

[Bennett Hadley]

TBH I think the rich rules everythign LOL

 

[Cronus]

??

Private schools rule the rich.

I go to a selective and people's houses are drab, single-storeyed and dodgy as. There's this outlier white kid tho whose father is a CEO, but he's an outlier and finds it a bit difficult to fit in with the rest. lmao his manners > everyone else's. And I do know that his family is rich as. Everyone else not so much (or maybe they don't flaunt it as much). This kid physically looks rich too. However, he doesn't go tutoring yet we all predict he's gonna get DUX.

BTW I'm selective and definitely not "rich"... just my family's hardworking. That's it.

 

[Cronus]

??

Private schools rule the rich.

I go to a selective and people's houses are drab, single-storeyed and dodgy as. Probably because their parents spend all their money on tutoring... but There's this outlier white kid tho whose father is a CEO, but he's an outlier and finds it a bit difficult to fit in with the rest. lmao his manners > everyone else's. And I do know that his family is rich as. Everyone else not so much (or maybe they don't flaunt it as much). This kid physically looks rich too. However, he doesn't go tutoring yet we all predict he's gonna get DUX.

BTW I'm selective and definitely not "rich"... just my family's hardworking. That's it.

 

[Cronus]

But then again I go to a selective school in the South West so

 

[Drongoski]

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