Independent school

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For the movie, see Private School (film).

Private schools, or independent schools, are schools not administered by local, state, or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public (state) funds. In the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries the use of the term is generally restricted to primary and secondary educational levels: it is almost never used of universities or other tertiary institutions.

Types of private school in North America

Private education in North America covers the whole gamut of educational activity. Private schools range from pre-school to tertiary level institutions. Annual tuitions at K-12 schools range from nothing at tuition-free schools to more than $40,000 at several boarding schools. On average, they spend thousands less per student than at government schools[citation needed]. Most private schools do not consider the academic achievements of applicants to be a major deciding factor.

The secondary level includes schools offering grades 7 through 12 and grade 13. This category includes preparatory schools or "prep schools", boarding schools and day schools. Tuition at private secondary schools varies from school to school and depends on many factors, including the location of the school, the willingness of parents to pay, peer tuitions, and the endowment. High tuition, schools claim, is used to pay higher salaries for the best teachers, and also used to provide enriched learning environments including a low student to teacher ratio, small class sizes and services such as libraries, science laboratories, and computers. Some private schools are boarding schools. Some military schools are privately owned or operated as well.

Trade or vocational schools are also usually private schools where students can learn skills in a trade which they intend to make their future occupation. Trade schools exist in a variety of occupations from cosmetology schools to schools for the performing arts.

Religiously affiliated or denominational schools form a distinct category of private schools. Such schools teach religious lessons together with the usual academic subjects, to instill their particular faith's beliefs and traditions in the students who attend. They include parochial schools, a term which is often used to denote Catholic Christian schools. Other religious groups represented in the K-12 private education sector include Protestants, Muslims, Jews and the Orthodox Christian sects such as the Russian, Greek and Byzantine.

Many educational alternatives, such as independent schools, are also privately financed. Private schools often avoid some state regulations.

Finally, special assistance schools aim to improve the lives of their students by providing services tailored to very specific needs of individual students. Such schools include tutoring schools and schools to assist the learning of handicapped children.

The Ivy Preparatory School League, originally an athletic conference for preparatory schools in the New York City area. Tuition costs are often comparable to private university tuition.

Types of private schools in England and Wales

Generally called independent schools because of their freedom to operate outside of government regulation, private schools are favoured by a significant number of parents because of their academic standards, which are often higher than those found in the state sector, and wider opportunities in fields such as sport, drama and music. Many Independent schools are single-sex (though this is becoming less common), and interestingly these schools tend to perform better academically (particularly girls' schools), as is evident in the annual league tables for GCSE and A Level results.

Independent primary schools are called preparatory schools, preparing pupils not for admission to a university as in the United States, but to an independent secondary school (the Common Entrance Exam). Such independent secondary schools are often - somewhat confusingly - called public schools, though this term is primarily used of the older and more prestigious schools, like Winchester, Eton, and Harrow. Many of these schools are boarding schools. The reason that private schools are called public schools in England is historical. These older schools were formed when there was little or no school system; they were called public schools then, because at that time schooling was really only available for the elite by private tutoring. By comparison, these early schools were considered public ... as opposed to private tuition. The name has stuck since, but only in England. See also Independent school (United_Kingdom)#Terminology for further elaboration on this topic.

Due to their ancient foundation, many public schools have a religious character, although this does not generally aim at pupils' religious indoctrination and does not preclude pupils of other faiths attending if they wish. Religion is not as important an aspect in the majority of parents' decision to send their child to an independent school as it is in the United States, due to the requirement of state schools to timetable periods of Christian worship.

In the 1970s, the two-tier system was removed from state-run Secondary education, in which all students were required to sit the 11+ exam at that age. The more able students would then be offered a place at a local grammar school, as oppose to a comprehensive school. But after comprehensivisation, some grammar schools were able to become independent (often the ones with an established heritage).

Although the majority of independent schools in England and Wales aim at high academic standards, a small number provide support for those experiencing difficulties in mainstream education.

Private schools in India

In much of India, the schooling offered by the state governments would technically come under the category of Public schools. They are Federal or State funded and have zero or very minimal fees.

The other category of schools are those run and partly funded by private individuals, private organizations and religious groups, especially by the christian missionaries. They are usually not completely privately run, being 'aided' by the government. The standard and the quality of education is quite high.Technically these would be categorized as private schools, but many of them have the name Public School appended to them, e.g., the Delhi Public School. Most of the middle class families send their children to such schools, which might be in their own city or far off (like Boarding schools). The medium of education is English, but as a compulsory subject, Hindi and/or the state's official language is also taught. Some college and school data are available in StudentIndia.com also Boarding school

These situations are more or less the same in the other countries of the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) like Nepal, Pakistan, etc.

Private schools in Australia

Private schools are one of two types of school in Australia, the other being government schools (public or state). Private schools are either denomentational (often Catholic) or independent.

Private schools in Australia may be favoured for many reasons: prestige, and the social status of the 'old school tie'; a perceived higher quality of education; the removal of the distractions of co-education; the presence of boarding facilities; or stricter discipline.

Private schools in Australia are still heavily government funded, although they are also more expensive than government schools.

Private schools may have a greater focus on sports and other associations than public schools. The GPS schools in New South Wales) and Queensland were established to promote certain sports perceived to be elite within these schools.

Unlike many public schools, most Australian private school students are subject to strict dress codes - for example, a blazer for boys.

See also: Education in Australia

See also

Bibliography

  • Hein, David (4 January 2004). What has happened to Episcopal schools? The Living Church, 228, no. 1, 21-22.
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