Vignette – A faith perspective

Caroline David is the Principal of Woonona High School, and Vice President of the NSW South Coast Secondary Principals’ Council. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney investigating how Australian education policy architecture is entrenching inequality.

“As a person of faith, I often feel confronted by the insular, exclusive nature of faith-based schools in Australia. Their tendency to serve students whose families can part with sums of money large and small seems at odds with their faith’s mission statement to be inclusive of all. Nor does enough thought appear to go into the implications for the schooling of those students who are not accepted – or subsequently excluded – from their schools.

It would be wonderful if there was a time in Australia when faith-based schools were committed to sharing the education of all young Australians, particularly those that are disadvantaged so that we could reflect the Ontario experience and have our faith leaders also report “We are so richly blessed” to have co-operation between the sectors – and a shared commitment to equity in words and deeds.”