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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy

Record-low enrolments at Australian government schools should ring ‘alarm bells’, experts say

NT Australia Pasi Sahlberg
School children walking away
There were 2,614,094 students enrolled in government schools in Australia in 2023 – a total increase of just 0.7% in the past five years. Photograph: courtneyk/Getty Images

Education experts say “alarm bells” should be ringing for state and federal governments after data revealed the percentage of children enrolled in public education has fallen to a record low.

The annual schools data, released on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), found the proportion of students enrolled in government schools has dropped by four percentage points in two decades, from about 68% in 2002 to 64% last year.

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