00:00 Private schools have never been as popular.
00:05 At Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, just south of the Gold Coast, students and families
00:10 are queuing up to enter the private system, even as cost of living pressures bite.
00:15 You do anything for your kids.
00:17 Other things will just take second place to giving them those few years of a really good
00:23 quality education.
00:26 Last year the number of students here rose by about 10%.
00:29 Parents will make incredible sacrifices for their children and one of the things parents
00:34 rate very highly is quality education.
00:38 Principal Stuart Markart puts the school's success down to its values, which are anchored
00:42 in Christianity.
00:43 A lot of the messaging here at the school is about developing a person of substance,
00:50 a person of character, a person who can make good decisions when no one is watching.
00:56 Across the country, private school enrolments grew eight times faster than public schools.
01:01 Last year private schools grew by 2.5% to 1.47 million students.
01:07 That's 36% of all young people.
01:10 Public school enrolments grew by just 0.3%.
01:14 The private school lobby welcomed the figures but advocates for public education say it
01:18 isn't a fair fight and many parents are forced to move because of underfunding.
01:23 I think parents are very much aware that there is a huge resource differentiation between
01:30 public schools and private schools.
01:32 Experts like Dr Emma Rowe say most public schools still haven't reached their Gonski
01:37 funding levels.
01:39 The funding system is not fair in Australia and it very much privileges private schools.
01:45 A nation increasingly turning to the old school tie.
01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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