Fixing The Imbalance In Select Entry Schools

The Andrews Labor Government is reviewing select entry schooling to ensure girls and boys have equal access to select entry schools.

Last year, there were nearly 500 more boys in select entry schools than girls. That’s not good enough which is why the Labor Government is investing $500,000 to start addressing this imbalance.

The funding will review long-term select entry provision for girls across Victoria as well as look at options for creating more capacity at Mac.Robertson Girls’ High Scool to address the disparity.

Last year, almost 56 per cent of the 4,000 select entry places in Victoria went to boys. These places are across four schools: boys-only Melbourne High School, girls-only Mac.Robertson Girls High’ School and the co-educational Suzanne Cory High School and Nossal High School.

Melbourne High School has capacity for around 400 more students than Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School and addressing this imbalance by expanding the school will bring equality of access.

Options to expand Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School include increasing capacity on the current site and leasing or buying a new site. The review will not look at expanding the current site adjacent to Albert Park to ensure the surrounding parkland is not affected.

In 2015, the Labor Government abolished the select entry exam fee for disadvantaged students leading to a significant increase in students from disadvantaged backgrounds sitting the tests.

The Labor Government has invested $2.5 billion in the past three Budgets to improve classrooms, upgrade facilities and build new schools across the state.

This includes three new schools in the Albert Park area, Prahran High School, South Melbourne Park Primary School and South Melbourne Primary School, Victoria’s first vertical Government school.

There are now 56 new schools projects and more than 1,200 school upgrades in the construction pipeline, creating more than 5,000 construction jobs.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education James Merlino

"We want to see more of Victoria's best and brightest young women have life-changing opportunities through the state education system."

“We’ll look at the long-term provision across select entry schools to ensure girls have the same access to these schools as boys. We will also look at options at the current Mac.Rob site to significantly increase capacity.”

“The Education State is about giving all students the opportunity for a great education – and that opportunity shouldn’t be reliant on your gender.”