As families across the region scramble to complete last minute school preparations, the cost of education is already hitting purses, and local educators are calling for change.
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This week the Futurity Investment Group confirmed what most parents already knew - the cost of sending a child to school in Australia is getting more and more expensive.
The group's most recent research suggests it costs $75,217 to put a child through 13 years of government schooling in regional and remote Victoria and Bendigo Senior Secondary principal Dale Pearce says there needs to be funding reforms for schools.
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Futurity Investment Group executive Kate Hill said the total cost of government, Catholic and independent education in regional and remote parts of the state largely aligned with the national figures.
School camps, uniforms, devices and tuition all add up
"Only about five per cent of that amount actually relates to school fees themselves, and the other 95 per cent covers all of the ancillary costs that go along with sending your kid to school," Ms Hill said.
"All of those things like school camps and school uniforms, electronic devices, outside tuition, sports uniforms and sports equipment, all of those costs that add up.
"We forecast regional Victorian to spend around four times more on outside tuition than they actually pay in school fees, which is interesting.
"And things like musical instruments and transport, also add up to that total cost of government education."
The national average metropolitan cost for a government education is $87,528. It can reach as high as $102,807 in Melbourne where it is projected to be most expensive.
Independent sector costs also spiking
Ms Hill said these figures were per student and those with two or three children could end up with a really large price tag which ballooned when entering the independent sector.
In regional Victoria, the cost of an independent education across 13 years of schooling was forecast to be $209,057 while the equivalent Catholic sector sum was $165,262.
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The most expensive cities to get a private education in were Sydney and Melbourne with independent schooling costing $357,931 and $307,508 respectively.
"Parents are really feeling the pain of escalating costs everywhere and the increase in the true cost of education is absolutely killing parents at a time where they're also faced with increased grocery bills and living expenses, rents and mortgages," Ms Hill said.
"Interest rates are increasing at the same time, so you know, it's just one more group of expenses that are really causing a burden to Australian parents."
Funding reform needed, says local principal
Bendigo Senior Secondary principal Dale Pearce said these statistics were not surprising for those who worked in the education sector.
"It'll vary location by location and school by school for a range of reasons but we know that of all the education systems in Australia, the Victorian state education is one of the lower funded systems and of course, schools are always wanting to provide a really wide range of opportunities for students," he said.
"In that environment, inevitably, you'd expect that parents would be asked to pay a bit more.
"It creates pressure for a lot of families and I know in our school we're always really careful to follow education department policy and to provide everything that we're required to provide free of charge and then we do ask for voluntary contributions, but they're very much voluntary.
"Inevitably, if parents are striving to buy things or to send their students on certain activities, having them involved in things, then they will stretch themselves to do that."
Mr Pearce said there was a broad issue in Australian education as far as funding was concerned.
A 'broad issue' in Australian education
"We've got a funding agreement between the Commonwealth government and the states and there's a minimum resourcing standard per student and government schools are funded below that standard," Mr Pearce said.
"And then we have some schools in the non-government sector that are funded above that level - that's a ridiculous situation to be in.
"So in some way, and at some time sooner rather than later, they need to resolve that.
"The new federal minister has flagged that they'll continue the current arrangements for a further 12 months and look to review them, but it really requires the states and the Commonwealth to work more collaboratively."
According to the Good Schools Guide upon which some of the statistics were based, the most expensive school in the Bendigo area is Girton Grammar School where a child can attend six years of high school for $87,936 or their whole schooling career for $171,040.
Other prep to year 12 institutions include Marist College with a 13-year cost of $51,423, Creek Street College at $44,565 and Victory Christian College at $45,280 for the same time period.
Six years at Catherine McAuley College comes out at a price tag of $37,080 while seven years at Catholic primary schools in Bendigo range from about $7945 to $10,500.
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