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An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools,
non-governmental
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
s. In
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
, an independent school usually refers to a school which is endowed, i.e. held by a trust, charity, or foundation, while a private school is one that is privately owned.
Independent schools are usually not dependent upon national or
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
to finance their
financial endowment. They typically have a board of governors who are elected independently of government and have a system of governance that ensures their independent operation.
Children who attend such schools may be there because they (or their parents) are dissatisfied with government-funded schools (in UK
state schools
State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
) in their area. They may be selected for their academic prowess, prowess in other fields, or sometimes their religious background. Private schools retain the right to select their
students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students for
tuition
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...
, rather than relying on
taxation
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
through public (government) funding; at some private schools students may be eligible for a scholarship, lowering this tuition fee, dependent on a student's talents or abilities (e.g., sports scholarship, art scholarship, academic scholarship), need for financial aid, or
tax credit scholarships that might be available. Roughly one in 10 U.S. families have chosen to enroll their children in private school for the past century.
Some private schools are associated with a particular religion, such as
Roman Catholicism,
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
, or
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. Although independent schools may have a religious affiliation, the precise use of the term excludes
parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to:
* Parishes, in religion
** Parish churches, also called parochial churches
* Parochial schools, primary or secondary schools affiliated to a religious organisation
* Parochialism
Parochialism is the ...
(and other) schools if there is a financial dependence upon, or governance subordinate to, outside organizations. These definitions generally apply equally to both
primary and
secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
.
Types
In the United Kingdom and several other
Commonwealth countries including Australia and Canada, the use of the term is generally restricted to
primary and
secondary educational levels; it is almost never used of
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
and other
tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
institutions. Private education in North America covers the whole gamut of educational activity, ranging from pre-school to tertiary level institutions. Annual tuition fees at
K–12
K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an American English expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States, which is similar to publicly supported school grades ...
schools range from nothing at so called 'tuition-free' schools to more than $45,000 at several
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
preparatory schools.
The secondary level includes schools offering years 7 through 12 (year twelve is known as lower sixth) and year 13 (upper sixth). This category includes
university-preparatory school
A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher educatio ...
s 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 school's location, the willingness of parents to pay, peer tuitions, and the school's
financial 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
A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...
,
science laboratories and
computers. Some private schools are
boarding schools, and many
military academies
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
are privately owned or operated as well.
Religiously affiliated and denominational schools form a subcategory of private schools. Some such schools teach
religious education, together with the usual academic subjects, to impress their particular faith's beliefs and traditions in the students who attend. Others use the denomination as a general label to describe what the founders based their belief, while still maintaining a fine distinction between academics and religion. They include
parochial schools, a term which is often used to denote Roman Catholic schools. Other religious groups represented in the K–12 private education sector include Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and Orthodox Christians.
Many
educational alternatives, such as independent schools, are privately financed. Private schools often avoid some state regulations, although in the name of educational quality, most comply with regulations relating to the educational content of classes. Religious private schools often add religious instruction to the courses provided by local public schools.
Special assistance schools aim to improve the lives of their students by providing services tailored to the particular needs of individual students. Such schools include
tutor
TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...
ing schools and schools to assist the learning of disabled children.
By country
Australia
![Scotch from chapel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Scotch_from_chapel.JPG)
In Australia, independent schools, sometimes referred to as
private school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
s, are a sub-set of non-
government schools that, for administration purposes, are not operated by a government authority and have a system of governance that ensures its independent operation. Such schools are mostly operated by an independently elected school council or board of governors and range broadly in the type of school-education provided and the
socio-economics of the school community served. Some independent schools are run by
religious institutes; others have no religious affiliation and are driven by a national philosophy (such as
international school
An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body an ...
s),
pedogogical philosophy (such as
Waldorf-Steiner schools), or specific needs (such as
special schools).
Independent and Catholic schools in Australia make up more than 34% of total enrolments.
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
schools, which usually have lower fees, make up a sizeable proportion of total enrolments (nearly 15%) and are usually regarded as a school sector of their own within the broad category of independent schools. Enrolments in non-government schools have been growing steadily at the expense of enrolments in government schools, which have seen their enrolment share reduce from 78.1 percent to 65 percent since 1970, although the rate of growth has slowed in the later years.
Australian independent schools differ from those in the United States as the
Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
provides funding to all schools including independent schools using a 'needs-based' funding model. This model was based on a Socio-Economic Status (SES) score, derived by selecting a sample of parents' addresses and mapping these to various household income and education data points collected from the national census conducted every five years. In 2013, after release of the (first)
Gonski Report, the funding formula was changed to compute individual school funding compared to a School Resourcing Standard (SRS). The SRS uses exam results from the
National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a series of tests focused on basic skills that are administered to Australian students in year 3, 5, 7 and 9. These standardised tests assess students' reading, writing, ...
(NAPLAN) tests, calculates the SRS from a cohort of well-performing schools, and applies this formula to other schools on the assumption that they should be able to achieve similar results from similar funding. The funding provided to independent schools is on a sliding scale and still has a "capacity to pay" element; however, on average, funding granted to the independent school sector is 40 percent of that required to operate government schools, the remainder being made up by tuition fees and donations from parents. The majority of the funding comes from the Commonwealth Government, while the
state and territory governments provide about one-third of the Commonwealth amount. The
Turnbull Government commissioned Gonski in 2017 to chair the independent Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, commonly called Gonski 2.0. The government published the report on 30 April 2018. Following negotiation,
bilateral agreement
Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...
s between the Commonwealth of Australia with each state and territory commenced on 1 January 2019, with the exception of Victoria, whose bilateral agreement commenced on 1 February 2019. The funding agreements provide states with funding for government schools (20 percent) and non-government schools (80 percent) taking into consideration annual changes in enrolment numbers, indexation and student or school characteristics. A National School Resourcing Board was charged with the responsibility of independently reviewing each state's compliance with the funding agreement(s).
Independent school fees can vary from under $100 per month to $2,000 and upwards,
depending on the student's year level, the school's size, and the socioeconomics of the school community. In late 2018 it was reported that the most expensive independent schools (such as the
APS Schools, the
AGSV Schools in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, the
GPS Schools,
QGSSSA Schools in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
and the
NSW GPS Schools,
Combined Associated Schools
The Associated Schools of NSW Inc, most commonly referred to as the Committee of Associated Schools (CAS), is a group of six independent schools located in Sydney, which share common interests, ethics, educational philosophy and contest sporting e ...
and the
ISA Schools in
Sydney and New South Wales) charge fees of up to $500,000 for the thirteen years of an independent school education.
Private schools in Australia are always more expensive than their public counterparts
There are two main categories of private schools in Australia: Catholic schools and Independent schools.
[The National Education Directory Australia: Private Schools in Australia](_blank)
(accessed:07-08-2007)
Catholic schools
Catholic schools form the second-largest sector after government schools, with around 21% of secondary enrollments. Most Australian Catholic schools belong to a system, like government schools, are typically
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
and attempt to provide Catholic education evenly across the states. These schools are also known as "systemic". Systemic Catholic schools are funded mainly by state and federal government and have low fees.
Catholic schools, both systemic and independent, typically have a strong religious focus, and usually most of their staff and students are Catholic.
Independent schools
Independent schools make up the last sector and are the most popular form of schooling for boarding students. Independent schools are non-government institutions that are generally not part of a system.
Although most are non-aligned, some of the best known independent schools also belong to the large, long-established religious foundations, such as the
Anglican Church
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
,
Uniting Church
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...
and
Presbyterian Church, but in most cases, they do not insist on their students' religious allegiance. These schools are typically viewed as "elite schools". Many of the "grammar schools" also fall in this category. They are usually expensive schools that tend to be up-market and traditional in style, some Catholic schools fall into this category as well, e.g.
St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace,
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview
Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Jesuit tradition, located in Riverview, a small suburb located on the Lane Cove River on the ...
,
St Gregory's College, Campbelltown
, motto_translation = What you sow, so shall you reap
, established =
, type = Independent single-sex and co-educational comprehensive and specialist primary and secondary day and boarding school
, specialist = Agricultural sch ...
,
St Aloysius' College (Sydney)
St Aloysius' College is an Education in Australia#Independent schools, independent Catholic school, Catholic Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in Kirribilli, a suburb on the North Shore (Sydney), ...
and
St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, as well as
Loreto Kirribilli
Loreto Kirribilli is an independent Roman Catholic comprehensive single-sex primary and secondary day school for girls, located in Kirribilli, a Lower North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Established at Milsons Poi ...
,
Saint Scholastica's College,
Monte Sant Angelo Mercy College and
Loreto Normanhurst
, motto_translation = While I Live, I Trust in the Cross
, established =
, type = Independent comprehensive single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school
, denomination = Roman Catholic
, religious_affiliation = Institute ...
for girls.
Lower-fee independent schools exist and are often conducted by religious affiliations such as the
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
church and other less prominent Christian denominations.
Canada
In Canada, ''independent school'' refers to elementary and secondary schools that follow provincial educational requirements but are not managed by the provincial ministry; the term ''independent'' is usually used to describe not-for-profit schools. In some provinces, independent schools are regulated by the Independent School Act and must offer a curriculum prescribed by the provincial government.
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
has the most independent schools in Canada. These include
Ridley College
Ridley College (also known as RC, Ridley) is a private boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) from Niagara Falls. The school confers the Ontario Secondary School Diploma ...
,
Havergal College
Havergal College is an independent day and boarding school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was established in 1894 and named for Frances Ridley Havergal, a composer, author and humanitaria ...
,
Crescent School,
St. Andrew's College,
Columbia International College
Columbia International College is a private boarding preparatory school in the Ainslie Wood neighbourhood of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As of 2014, the school has students from over 70 countries.
Columbia is a member of the Independent School A ...
,
The York School,
Niagara Christian Collegiate
Niagara Christian Community of Schools (NCC, formerly known as Niagara Christian Collegiate) is a private school located on the Niagara River just outside Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1932 by the Brethren in Christ Chur ...
and
Ashbury College
Ashbury College is an independent day and boarding school located in the Rockcliffe Park area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was originally founded in 1891 by former faculty of Bishop's College School in Quebec to accommodate BCS students living ...
. Examples of independent schools in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
are
Brentwood College School
Brentwood College School is a co-educational boarding school.Thomson, Ashley and Sylvie Lafortune.'' Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools''. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1999. Brentwood is located on Vancouver Island in Mill Bay, British Columbia, C ...
,
Little Flower Academy
Little Flower Academy (LFA) is a Canadian independent all girls Catholic secondary school located in Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood established in 1927, by the Sisters of Saint Ann.
History
In 1858, five women of the Québec-based o ...
,
Shawnigan Lake School
Shawnigan Lake School is a co-educational independent boarding school located on Vancouver Island in Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded by Englishman Christopher Windley "C. W." Lonsdale in 1916, and was partly modelled aft ...
,
St. Margaret's School, and
St. Michael's University School
St. Michaels University School (abbreviated SMUS) is an independent day and boarding school in the municipality of Saanich, the largest and most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and on Vancouver Island. Previous headmasters i ...
. In
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
:
Bishop's College School
Bishop's College School or BCS is an English-language non-profit independent boarding
prep school in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada for students in Grades 7 to 12.Thomson, Ashley; Lafortune, Sylvie (1999). Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools. To ...
and
Lower Canada College
Lower Canada College (LCC) is an English-language elementary and secondary level independent school located in Montreal, Quebec. The school offers education from Kindergarten through Grade 11. Students graduate from Grade 11 and then have the opt ...
.
Many independent schools in Canada meet National Standards and are accredited by a national not-for-profit organization called
Canadian Accredited Independent Schools Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) is a national organization for independent schools in Canada. The current Executive Director is Patti MacDonald.
History Canadian Association of Independent Schools
The Canadian Association of Independ ...
(CAIS).
Independent schools in British Columbia are partially financed by municipal governments by Statutory and Permissive tax exemptions. The objective of the legislation appears to be to level the playing field between the private and public sector schools. These tax exemptions over a period of time result in considerable investment by municipal governments in the private school sector, yet legally they have no stake in the properties, as they remain in private hands. Depending on the financial structure of the school, parents may have a financial stake while their offspring are enrolled, but the investment is not continuous, and the enrollment deposit, which finances the school's capital expenditures, is returned upon leaving the school. The returned deposit is paid from the subsequent new enrolment, and it follows that no parent makes a long-term investment in the school. The municipal governments appear on balance to be the only long term investors, through the statutory and permissive tax exemptions, with no right to recapture these costs if the school is dissolved or any part of the assets is disposed of.
Robert Land Academy
Robert Land Academy (RLA) is Canada's only non-university level private military academy. Located in the township of West Lincoln on the north shores of the Welland River five kilometres west of the hamlet of Wellandport, the Academy began to ac ...
in Wellandport, Ontario is Canada's only independent military style school for boys in grades 6 through 12.
In 1999, 5.6% of Canadian students were enrolled in private schools, some of which are religious or faith-based schools, including Christian, Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic schools. Some private schools in Canada are considered world class, especially some boarding schools with a long and illustrious history. Private schools have sometimes been controversial, with some in the media and in Ontario's
Provincial Ministry of Education asserting that students may buy inflated grades from private schools.
Germany
The right to create private schools in Germany is in Article 7, Paragraph 4 of the
Grundgesetz
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came in ...
and cannot be suspended even in a
state of emergency. It is also not possible to abolish these rights. This unusual protection of private schools was implemented to protect these schools from a second
Gleichschaltung or similar event in the future. Still, they are less common than in many other countries. Overall, between 1992 and 2008 the percent of pupils in such schools in Germany increased from 6.1% to 7.8% (including rise from 0.5% to 6.1% in the former GDR). Percent of students in private high schools reached 11.1%.
There are two types of private schools in Germany, ''Ersatzschulen'' (literally: substitute schools) and ''Ergänzungsschulen'' (literally: auxiliary schools). There are also ''private Hochschulen'' (private colleges and universities) in Germany, but similar to the UK, the term private school is almost never used of universities or other tertiary institutions.
''Ersatzschulen'' are ordinary primary or secondary schools, which are run by private individuals, private organizations or religious groups. These schools offer the same types of diplomas as public schools. Ersatzschulen lack the freedom to operate completely outside government regulation. Teachers at Ersatzschulen must have at least the same education and at least the same wages as teachers at public schools, an Ersatzschule must have at least the same academic standards as a public school and Article 7, Paragraph 4 of the Grundgesetz, also forbids segregation of pupils according to the means of their parents (the so-called ''Sonderungsverbot''). Therefore, most Ersatzschulen have very low tuition fees or offer scholarships, compared to most other
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
an countries. However, it is not possible to finance these schools with such low tuition fees, which is why all German Ersatzschulen are additionally financed with public funds. The percentages of public money could reach 100% of the personnel expenditures. Nevertheless, Private Schools became insolvent in the past in Germany.
''Ergänzungsschulen'' are secondary or post-secondary (non-tertiary) schools, which are run by private individuals, private organizations or rarely, religious groups and offer a type of education which is not available at public schools. Most of these schools are
vocational school
A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the task ...
s. However, these vocational schools are not part of the German
dual education system
A dual education system combines apprenticeships in a company and vocational education at a vocational school in one course. This system is practiced in several countries, notably Germany, Austria, Switzerland and in the German-speaking Community ...
. Ergänzungsschulen have the freedom to operate outside government regulation and are funded in whole by charging their students tuition fees.
Italy
In Italy education is predominantly public; about one-fifth of schools are private, attended by about one out of 10 Italian schoolchildren. The Italian constitution states that education is to be public, free, and compulsory for at least 8 years.
The majority of schools not administered by the state are Catholic. In the period 2008–2009 Catholic schools were about 57% of all private schools, with a tendency to decrease.
India
![Nuchhungi English Medium School Hnahthial Lunglei Mizoram appreciation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Nuchhungi_English_Medium_School_Hnahthial_Lunglei_Mizoram_appreciation.jpg)
In India, private schools are called independent schools, but since some private schools receive financial aid from the government, it can be an aided or an unaided school. So, in a strict sense, a private school is an unaided independent school. For the purpose of this definition, only receipt of financial aid is considered, not land purchased from the government at a subsidized rate. It is within the power of both the union government and the state governments to govern schools since Education appears in the Concurrent list of legislative subjects in the constitution. The practice has been for the union government to provide the broad policy directions while the states create their own rules and regulations for the administration of the sector. Among other things, this has also resulted in 30 different Examination Boards or academic authorities that conduct examinations for school leaving certificates. Prominent Examination Boards that are present in multiple states are the
CBSE and the
CISCE
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is a privately held national-level board of school education in India that conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Examination for Class X and the Indian ...
,
NENBSE
![Nuchhungi English Medium School Hnahthial Lunglei Mizoram](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Nuchhungi_English_Medium_School_Hnahthial_Lunglei_Mizoram.jpg)
Legally, only non-profit trusts and societies can run schools in India. They will have to satisfy a number of infrastructure and human resource related criteria to get Recognition (a form of license) from the government. Critics of this system point out that this leads to corruption by school inspectors who check compliance and to fewer schools in a country that has the largest adult illiterate population in the world. While official data does not capture the real extent of private schooling in the country, various studies have reported unpopularity of government schools and an increasing number of private schools. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), which evaluates learning levels in rural India, has been reporting poorer academic achievement in government schools than in private schools. A key difference between the government and private schools is that the medium of education in private schools is English while it is the local language in government schools.
Indonesia
Private schools can be found across Indonesia. All private schools in Indonesia are established by foundations. The costs of education are not subsidized by the government. The differences between private schools and public schools depend on each school. Each private school applies policies from the Indonesian Government, and all private schools give the opportunity of additional activities whether cultural or for sport. Lots of Private schools in Indonesia are also influenced by religions (Islam, Christian, Catholic, Hindu, Buddha). But there are also national private schools that are not influenced by religion but rather have a special program.
Ireland
In Ireland, the internationally recognised definition of "private school" is misleading and a more accurate distinction is between fee-charging schools and non-fee-charging schools. This is because approximately 85% of all schools are private schools ( ga, scoil phríobháideach) by virtue of not being owned by the state. The
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
is the largest owner of schools in Ireland, with other religious institutions owning the remaining private schools. Nevertheless, despite the vast majority of schools being under the ownership of private institutions, a large majority of all their costs, including teachers' salaries, are paid for by the Irish state. Of these private schools, only a very small minority actually charge fees. In 2007, 'The number of schools permitted to charge fees represents 7.6% of the 723 post primary level schools and they cater for 7.1% of the total enrolment.'
If a fee-charging school wishes to employ extra teachers they are paid for with school fees, which tend to be relatively low in Ireland compared to the rest of the world. Because state funding plays a fundamental role in the finances of all but one fee-charging school, they must undergo similar state inspection to non-fee-charging schools. This is due to the requirement that the state ensure that children receive a certain minimum education; Irish state subsidised fee-charging schools must still work towards the
Junior Certificate
Junior Cycle ( ga, An tSraith Shóisearach ) is the first stage of the education programme for post-primary education within the Republic of Ireland. It is overseen by the State Examinations Commission of the Department of Education, the Stat ...
and the
Leaving Certificate, for example.
The single fee-charging secondary school in Ireland which receives no state funding, the
Nord Anglia International School Dublin
Nord Anglia International School Dublin is a private international school that serves primary and secondary students. The school opened in 2018 and is located in the Leopardstown suburb of Dublin in Ireland.
It provides schooling for children ...
, does not have to undergo the state supervision which all the other fee-charging schools undergo. Students there also sit the
International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...
rather than the Irish
Leaving Certificate which every other Irish secondary school student sits. In exchange, however, Nord Anglia students pay some €25,000 per annum in fees, compared to c. €4,000 – €8,000 per annum fees by students in all other fee-charging Irish schools.
Many fee-charging schools in Ireland also double as boarding schools. The fees for these may then rise up to €25,000 per year. All the state-subsidised fee-charging schools are run by a religious order, e.g., the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
or
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice.
Their first school was opened i ...
, etc. The major private schools being
Blackrock College
Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 186 ...
,
Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...
,
Castleknock College
Castleknock College ( ga, Coláiste Caisleán Cnucha) is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland.
Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one ...
,
Belvedere College,
Gonzaga College
Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...
and
Terenure College
Terenure College is a Carmelite-run secondary school located in the suburb of Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1860 and had an associated primary school until 2017. It is one of the "big six" Leinster Schools Rugby-playin ...
.
There are also a few fee-charging international schools in Ireland, including a French school, a Japanese school and a German school.
Lebanon
In Lebanon the vast majority of students attend private schools, most of which are owned and operated by the
Maronite Church
The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Th ...
. Government owned schools do exist, but only a small percentage of the population attend these aging structures, most of which were built in the mid-twentieth century. Educational standards are very high in Lebanon, but only those who can afford them are found in these schools. This presents a massive issue as not only does it place a burden on parents and younger families, but it also prevents certain individuals from realizing their full potential.
Lebanon utilizes an unusual mixed system, with French, English and American systems intertwining, sometimes in the same facility. As of 2015, approximately 85% of Secondary and High School graduates continued on to university.
Malaysia
![ChineseIndependentHighSchool004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/ChineseIndependentHighSchool004.jpg)
Chinese schools were being founded by the ethnic Chinese in Malaysia as early as the 19th century. The schools were set up with the main intention of providing education in the Chinese language. As such, their students remain largely Chinese to this day even though the school themselves are open to people of all races and backgrounds.
After Malaysia's independence in 1957, the government instructed all schools to surrender their properties and be assimilated into the National School system. This caused an uproar among the Chinese and a compromise was achieved in that the schools would instead become "National Type" schools. Under such a system, the government is only in charge of the school curriculum and teaching personnel while the lands still belonged to the schools. While Chinese primary schools were allowed to retain Chinese as the medium of instruction, Chinese secondary schools are required to change into English-medium schools. Over 60 schools converted to become National Type schools.
Nepal
In much of Nepal, the schooling offered by the state governments would technically come under the category of "public schools". They are federal- or state-funded, and have no or minimal fees.
The other category of schools are those run and partly or fully funded by private individuals, private organizations and religious groups. The ones that accept government funds are called 'aided' schools. The private 'un-aided' schools are fully funded by private parties. 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 Galaxy Public School in
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
). 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,
Nepali or the state's official language is also taught. Preschool education is mostly limited to organized neighbourhood nursery schools.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands over two-thirds of state-funded schools operate autonomously, with many of these schools being linked to faith groups. The
Programme for International Student Assessment
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-yea ...
, coordinated by the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
, ranks the education in the Netherlands as the 9th best in the world as of 2008, being significantly higher than the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
average.
New Zealand
![Strowan House and Field](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Strowan_House_and_Field.jpg)
As of April 2014, there were 88 private schools in New Zealand, catering for around 28,000 students or 3.7% of the entire student population. Private school numbers have been in decline since the mid-1970s as a result of many private schools opting to become
state-integrated school
In New Zealand, a state-integrated school is a former private school which has integrated into the state education system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975, becoming a state school while retaining its special character. ...
s, mostly due of financial difficulties stemming from changes in student numbers or the economy. State-integrated schools keep their private school special character and receives state funds in return for having to operate like a state school, e.g. they must teach the state curriculum, they must employ registered teachers, and they can't charge tuition fees (they can charge "attendance dues" for the upkeep on the still-private school land and buildings). The largest decline in private school numbers occurred between 1979 and 1984, when the nation's then-private
Catholic school system integrated. As a result, private schools in New Zealand are now largely restricted to the largest cities (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch) and niche markets.
Private schools are almost fully funded by tuition fees paid by students' parents, but they do receive some government subsidies. Private schools are popular for academic and sporting performance, prestige, exclusivity and old boys/girls networks; however, many state-integrated schools and some prestigious single-sex state schools, such as
Auckland Grammar School
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
and Wellington College (New Zealand), Wellington College, are actively competitive with private schools in academic and sporting achievement, history and character.
Private schools are often Anglican, such as King's College, Auckland, King's College and Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland, Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland, St Paul's Collegiate School in Hamilton, St Peter's School, Cambridge, St Peter's School in Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington, and Christ's College, Christchurch, Christ's College and St Margaret's College, Christchurch, St Margaret's College in Christchurch; or Presbyterian, such as Saint Kentigern College and St Cuthbert's College, Auckland, St Cuthbert's College in Auckland, Scots College, Wellington, Scots College and Queen Margaret College, Wellington, Queen Margaret College in Wellington, and St Andrew's College, Christchurch, St Andrew's College and Rangi Ruru Girls' School in Christchurch. However, the Catholic schism, schismatic group, the Society of St Pius X in New Zealand, Society of St Pius X in Wanganui operates three private schools (including the secondary school, St Dominic's College, Wanganui, St Dominic's College).
A recent group of private schools run as a business has been formed by Academic Colleges Group; with schools throughout Auckland, including ACG Senior College in Auckland's CBD, ACG Parnell College in Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, and international school ACG New Zealand International College.
Oman
Oman retains a number of independent private coeducational day schools of international renown and a majority of which are private educational grammar establishments offering Classics beyond Latin and Greek to include the ancient literary studies of Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic. Notable ones include the American British Academy, the British School - Muscat, British School Muscat, the Pakistan School Muscat, the Indian School Al Ghubra and The Sultan's School.
Philippines
In the Philippines, the private sector has been a major provider of educational services, accounting for about 7.5% of primary enrolment, 32% of secondary enrolment and about 80% of tertiary enrolment. Government regulations have given private education more flexibility and autonomy in recent years, notably by lifting the moratorium on applications for new courses, new schools and conversions, by liberalizing tuition fee policy for private schools, by replacing values education for third and fourth years with English, mathematics and natural science at the option of the school, and by issuing the revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools in August 1992.
The Education Service Contracting scheme of the government provides financial assistance for tuition and other school fees of students turned away from public high schools because of enrolment overflows. The Tuition Fee Supplement is geared to students enrolled in priority courses in post-secondary and non-degree programmes, including vocational and technical courses. The Private Education Student Financial Assistance is made available to underprivileged, but deserving high school graduates, who wish to pursue college/technical education in private colleges and universities.
In the school year 2001/02, there were 4,529 private elementary schools (out of a total of 40,763) and 3,261 private secondary schools (out of a total of 7,683). In 2002/03, there were 1,297 private higher education institutions (out of a total of 1,470).
Portugal
In Portugal, private schools were traditionally set up by foreign expatriates and diplomats in order to cater for their educational needs. Portuguese-speaking private schools are widespread across Portugal's main cities. International private schools are mainly concentrated in and around Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Coimbra and Covilhã, across the Portuguese region of Algarve, and in the autonomous region of Madeira. The Ministério da Educação acts as the supervisory and regulatory body for all schools, including international schools.
Singapore
In Singapore, after Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), students can choose to enter a private high school. ("Private Schools." ''Private Schools in Singapore , Private Education'', www.actualyse.com/prv/private-schools.aspx?c=SG&alang=en.)
South Africa
Some of the oldest schools in South Africa are private church schools that were established by missionary, missionaries in the early nineteenth century. The private sector has grown ever since. After the abolition of apartheid, the laws governing private education in South Africa changed significantly. The South African Schools Act of 1996 recognizes two categories of schools: "public" (state-controlled) and "independent" (which includes traditional private schools and schools which are privately governed).
In the final years of the apartheid era, parents at white government schools were given the option to convert to a "semi-private" form called ''Model C'', and many of these schools changed their admissions policies to accept children classified to be of other races. Following the end of apartheid government, the legal form of "Model C" was abolished, however, the term continues to be used to describe government schools formerly reserved for white children. These schools tend to produce better academic results than government schools formerly reserved for other "race groups". Former "Model C" schools are state-controlled, not private. All schools in South Africa (including both independent and public schools) have the right to set compulsory school fees, and formerly model C schools tend to set much higher school fees than other public schools.
Sweden
In Sweden, pupils are free to choose a private school and the private school gets paid the same amount as municipal schools. Over 10% of Swedish pupils were enrolled in private schools in 2008. Sweden is internationally known for this innovative school voucher model that provides Swedish pupils with the opportunity to choose the school they prefer.
For instance, the biggest school chain, Kunskapsskolan ("The Knowledge School"), offers 30 schools and a web-based environment, has 700 employees and teaches nearly 10,000 pupils.
United Kingdom
Non-governmental schools generally prefer to be called Independent school (United Kingdom), independent schools, because of their freedom to operate outside government and
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...
control. Elite institutions for older pupils, which charge high fees, are typically described as Public school (United Kingdom), public schools. Preparatory school (United Kingdom), Preparatory schools in England and Wales prepare pupils up to 13 years old to enter public schools. In Scotland, where the education system has always been separate from the rest of Great Britain, the term 'public school' was used historically to refer to state schools for the general public.
According to ''The Good Schools Guide'' about 9% of children being educated in the United Kingdom are at fee-charging schools at GCSE level and 13% at A-level. Some independent schools are single-sex, although this is becoming less common. As of 2011 fees range from under £3,000 to £21,000 and above per year for day pupils, rising to over £27,000 per year for boarders. Costs differ in Scotland.
On 15 August 2010 ''The Observer'' reported that the gap in A-Level achievement between independent schools and state schools in the UK was set to widen, with three times as many independently educated students achieving the new grade A*. The paper also noted that according to the "fair access watchdog" bright students from the poorest backgrounds were seven times less likely to go to a top university than their richer peers.
However, one in four independently educated children come from postcodes with the national average income or below, and one in three receives assistance with school fees. However, pupils' actual family incomes, which may be below or above the average for a particular postcode area, were not determined.
Evidence from a major longitudinal study suggests that British independent schools provide advantages in educational attainment and access to top universities, and that graduates of such schools have a labour market advantage, even controlling for their educational qualifications.
In the United Kingdom, independent education (or private education) has grown continually for the past twenty years.
England and Wales
In England and Wales, the more prestigious independent schools are known as 'Public school (United Kingdom), public schools', sometimes subdivided into major and minor public schools. A modern definition of a public school refers to membership of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, and this includes many independent grammar schools. The term 'public school' originally meant that the school was open to the public (as opposed to private tutors or the school being in private ownership).
Scotland
In Scotland, schools not state (polity), state-funded are known as independent or private schools. Independent schools may also be specialist or special schools – such as some music schools, Steiner Waldorf Education schools, or special education schools.
Scottish independent schools currently educate over 31,000 students and employ approximately 3,500 teachers. Schools are represented by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS). All schools are still inspected by the state inspectorate, Education Scotland, and the Care Inspectorate (Scotland), Care Inspectorate. Independent schools in Scotland that are charities are subject to a specific test from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, designed to demonstrate the public benefit the schools provide.
United States
In the United States, the term "private school" can be correctly applied to any school for which the facilities and funding are not provided by the federal, state or local government; as opposed to a "public school", which is operated by the government or in the case of Charter schools in the United States, "charter schools", independently with government funding and regulation. The majority of private schools in the United States are operated by religious institutions and organizations.
Independent schools in the United States educate a tiny fraction of the school-age population (slightly over 1% of the entire school-age population, around 10% of students who go to private schools). The essential distinction between independent schools and other private schools is self-governance and financial independence, i.e., independent schools own, govern, and finance themselves. In contrast, public schools are funded and governed by local and state governments, and most parochial schools are owned, governed, and financed by religious institutions such as a diocese or parish. Independent schools may be affiliated with a particular religion or denomination; however, unlike parochial schools, independent schools are self-owned and governed by independent boards of trustees. While independent schools are not subject to significant government oversight or regulation, they are Educational accreditation, accredited by the same six Regional accreditation, regional accreditation agencies that accredit Public school (government funded), public schools. The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a membership organization of American pre-college independent schools.
The NAIS provides this definition of an Independent School:
Independent schools are 501(c)3 nonprofit corporate entities, independent in governance and finance, meaning:
#Independent schools "own themselves" (as opposed to public schools owned by the government or parochial schools owned by the church) and govern themselves, typically with a self-perpetuating board of trustees that performs fiduciary duties of oversight and strategic duties of funding and setting the direction and vision of the enterprise, and by delegating day to day operations entirely to the head of school.
#Independent schools finance themselves (as opposed to public schools funded through the government and parochial schools subsidized by the church), largely through charging tuition, fund raising, and income from endowment.
Independence is the unique characteristic of this segment of the education industry, offering schools four freedoms that contribute to their success: the freedom to define their own unique missions; the freedom to admit and keep only those students well-matched to the mission; the freedom to define the qualifications for high quality teachers; and the freedom to determine on their own what to teach and how to assess student achievement and progress.
In the United States, there are more private university, independent colleges and universities than public universities, although public universities enroll more total students. The membership organization for independent tertiary education institutions is the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Private schools are generally exempt from most educational regulations at the Federal level but are highly regulated at the state level. These typically require them to follow the spirit of regulations concerning the content of courses in an attempt to provide a level of education equal to or better than that available in public schools.
In the nineteenth century, as a response to the perceived domination of the public school systems by Protestant political and religious ideas, many Catholic Church, Roman Catholic parish churches, dioceses and religious orders established schools, which operate entirely without government funding. For many years, the vast majority of private schools in the United States were Catholic schools.
A similar perception (possibly relating to the evolution vs. creationism debates) emerged in the late twentieth century among Protestants, which has resulted in the widespread establishment of new, private schools.
In many parts of the United States, after the 1954 decision in the landmark court case ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'' that demanded United States schools desegregation, desegregate "with all deliberate speed", local families organized a wave of private "Christian academies". In much of the U.S. South, many white students migrated to the academies, while public schools became in turn more heavily concentrated with African-American students (see List of private schools in Mississippi). The academic content of the academies was usually College Preparatory. Since the 1970s, many of these "segregation academies" have shut down, although some continue to operate.
Funding for private schools is generally provided through student tuition, endowments, Scholarship Tax Credit, scholarship/school voucher funds, and donations and grants from religious organizations or private individuals. Government funding for religious schools is either subject to restrictions or possibly forbidden, according to the courts' interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment or individual state Blaine Amendments. Non-religious private schools theoretically could qualify for such funding without hassle, preferring the advantages of independent control of their student admissions and course content instead of the public funding they could get with charter status.
A similar concept, recently emerging from within the public school system, is the concept of "charter schools", which are technically independent public schools, but in many respects operate similarly to non-religious private schools.
Private schooling in the United States has been debated by Teacher, educators, legislator, lawmakers and parents, since the beginnings of compulsory education in Massachusetts in 1852. The Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court precedent appears to favor educational choice, so long as states may set standards for educational accomplishment. Some of the most relevant Supreme Court case law on this is as follows: ''Runyon v. McCrary'', 427 U.S. 160 (1976); ''Wisconsin v. Yoder'', 406 U.S. 205 (1972); ''Pierce v. Society of Sisters'', 268 U.S. 510 (1925); ''Meyer v. Nebraska'', 262 U.S. 390 (1923).
There is a potential conflict between the values espoused in the above cited cases and the limitations set forward in Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is below described.
[Witham, Joan. (1997). "Public or private schools? A dilemma for gifted students?" ''Roeper Review'', 19, pp. 137–141.]
As of 2012, quality private schools in the United States charged substantial tuition, close to $40,000 annually for day schools in New York City, and nearly $50,000 for boarding schools. However, tuition did not cover operating expenses, particularly at boarding schools. The leading schools such as the Groton School had substantial endowments running to hundreds of millions of dollars supplemented by fundraising drives. Boarding schools with a reputation for quality in the United States have a student body drawn from throughout the country, indeed the globe, and a list of applicants which far exceeds their capacity.
See also
*Alternative school
*Convention against Discrimination in Education
*Freedom of education
*List of Friends schools
*Independent school (UK)
*Lutheran school
*Public school (UK)
*Right to Education
*State school
*Voucher
References
Further reading
* Hein, David (4 January 2004). "What Has Happened to Episcopal Schools?" ''The Living Church'', 228, no. 1, 21–22.
* Porter Sargent Staff
''The Handbook of Private Schools: An Annual Descriptive Survey of Independent Education'' 1914–
Porter Sargent Handbooks Boston. .
External links
Independent Schools Council of AustraliaNational Association of Independent Schools (U.S.A.)Canadian Accredited Independent SchoolsScottish Council of Independent SchoolsIndependent Schools Association UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Independent School
School types
Private schools, *