Viewing the Public vs. Private Issue

What's this about?
A friend of mine attended a Public High School before he chose to make the switch to a Private school. This reignited with me the debate between the two schools and reinforced what I believe with regards to this issue. The question you might want to keep in mind is, "What does education offer to the student?" – And no, I won’t be answering it directly. This will be looked at in a very general Australian context.

 Problem with the Question
The first problem that I have with this issue is the use of "vs." or "better" or any similar word where one is being compared to offer something more than the other. Whilst it is natural to judge and make our evaluations on which is better than the other, we must view what each offer that are the same. In reality, no school type is better than the other because so many contextual questions have to be asked. For example, different public schools in different socioeconomic areas would have varying methods of teachers and the quality of the school. The same can be said for private schools, private schools in the area of higher socioeconomic backgrounds would have a more expensive fee than others. Then comes into consideration the quality of teachers, funding, quality of welfare, student backgrounds or even number of students. There is no definitive answer to put to this but remember, the content is almost the same just some other factors are different. 

So? What's the issue then?
It is important to note that there are two different options to go, which branch out into other options. If you go public, you can have your local area, selective, agricultural (selective too) and go into other areas. If you go private, you can have your different religious and different independent schools. I hope that you notice that Choice plays THE part in this whole issue. That there is the ability to exercise your right to choice to choose different schools. So, it is up to one's discretion to what they want but it is essential to see that different factors affect how one can choose.  

The Real Comparison
Now that there is no residual difference in difference between the school types and only becomes one of choice, what really sets up schools apart? We can take into account comparison between public schools vs. public schools, public vs. private or private vs. private. In a Private School, you pay money and as a student, one receives a higher return than in a Public School because of that funding. Believe you me, if Public Schools had the funding that Private had, there would be no difference between the two. So, two considerations come to mind:1. What can the school do for the student's interest in learning.2. What the student brings to the school learning environment. Obviously this is all up to one’s discretion but take into consideration the bottom note. What we must all remember, the education system has the student’s best interests at heart. Not sure about the Governments though… 

Little Notes
A little earlier I talked about the idea of the socioeconomic backgrounds that can affect how the outlook of school may affect the individual. However, one point that must be made is that in both systems, the same (just about) content is taught as per the rules of the National Curriculum (will be getting to that sometime). So, in terms of what is being taught, there is pretty much no difference but how it is taught. Teachers play a very important part as a result and quality of teachers in important as well. But when you are weighing up options, sometimes it can be hard to pick quality of the 5 w's over what type of institution offers best pleasure.

Summation
So the important point to note is that in terms of the “what” being taught, there is really no difference. Only as to the “how” and anything else extracurricular. But if one searches hard enough in one’s heart, one can make the very best of school anywhere they are. I know I may have been going around in circles, but I need content! Jokes about the content bit! But I think I was going around in circles and only stating the bleedin’ obvious… Education is essential and is a gateway to many pastures (will be talking about education’s importance as well some time!). Well, thanks for reading but content updates will be slowing down slightly, otherwise I’ll run out! If you have any opinions on this matter, please let me know!
This is only A Small Point of View.
Thanks : )