By VANAJA THOMAS
Growing up in Kuala Lumpur, my family instilled in me a strong sense of the value of education.
Being Sri Lankan, education to them was at the top of their list in importance. They both came from large families and because of this upbringing opportunities were limited.
I have a belief, which I would love to pass on to my children, which is to always strive for a better life, and that it’s OK to be more, and want more, than your parents may have had.
I’ve been able to experience so many more things than my parents did because they had this belief too. They wanted me to have the opportunity to travel, have a good education, and have a career. All things I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced – I now even own a parenting website, Little Roan.
This is a Brand Voices post brought to you by Australian Scholarships Group. All opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.
Ten years ago I married my husband – an Aussie. We now live in Melbourne and have a four-and-a-half-year-old son. He is the most caring, compassionate and brightest little boy. Like any mum, I want the best for him. I want him to have love and happiness in his life, and a great career that he truly enjoys.
Every evening he enjoys pulling up his stool to the kitchen table watching me cook and bake, something he loves to do. Mixing the ingredients, stirring the pot and even adding salt, he inquisitively looks on to see what my next step in the recipe is.
Maybe one day he’ll want to be a chef, but at the moment, I’m pretty sure his dream is to be his favourite superhero – The Incredible Hulk. Whatever he wants, all I hope is that he lives his dreams and has every opportunity to do what he wants in life.
But I think in order to make dreams a reality, education is fundamental. It develops our potential, shapes our future and provides a great opportunity for a better life.
In Australia I think there are high quality tertiary institutions, but for me and my husband, it is the standards of education in public primary and secondary schools that concerns us.
With so much discussion at the moment around school funding and teacher quality, we have concerns about whether public or private schools will meet our educational expectations.
I guess that’s one of the main reasons we started thinking that we needed to put a plan in place. With the growing costs of private schooling a concern as well, we wanted to provide all we could for our son and it became apparent that we would need to prepare early. We wanted to have a choice when it came to education for him.
A few years ago we signed up with the Australian Scholarships Group (ASG), which offers a range of products and resources to help us prepare for his education. It has given us peace-of-mind that we’re doing what we can to give our son the opportunities for a great future.
In helping prepare for his future at either a public or private school, we hope he can live his dreams and have all the opportunities that we didn’t have.
ASG offers a proven and proactive way to help parents nurture and offset the cost of their children’s education. In almost 40 years, more than 509,000 children have been enrolled with ASG and more than $1.8 billion in education benefits have been returned to our Members and their children. ASG also offers a wide range of resources designed to help the many day-to-day challenges parents face in providing their children the best education possible. For more information visit their website.
Comments on this post are for this post only. If you have questions or comments about this product or about sponsored posts in general please email info@mamamia.com.au or visit our frequently asked questions page here.
Top Comments
I went to a small public primary school and then to a larger public high school down the road from where I grew up in a low socio economic area. I wish my parents had sent me to a private school. I was bright studious young woman, yet my high school was not a pleasant environment. It had weekly outbreaks of violent fighting amongst the kids, rampant drug use, and a general culture amongst the students that "smart is not cool". Needless to say, my motivation to study became less and less and I regret not applying myself to my full capability. I could not see beyond the bubble of my own environment. I wish I had realized my own capabilities and been encouraged. However as a public school student, I felt I never had access to opportunities, wasn't encouraged in my talents, or had access to the resources that students in private schools do.
As a mother of two children now, I am looking into what type of education I can provide for my kids. I have visited public, private and catholic schools. I believe that good education does come with a premium. Yes private schools are costly, yes they are a business, but they are in the business of education, and hopefully they do their business well. If my fees help pay for a lovely, clean and safe learning environment, in which learning and good grades are encouraged and expected, then I say yes! If a private school can offer opportunities for travel, offer new insights to thinking creatively, and hold high standards for behaviour and excellence, I say "Where do I sign up?" I wish I had been able to go to a school like this. High expectations of students is not a bad thing. If you are not encouraged (and maybe even "pushed" a little), how are you ever to know what you can achieve?
As i type this I sit in a private school staff room (which is highly regarded in this area) completing a uni placement before I graduate with a education degree, before this, my first placement was at a public school. Hands down, I would choose the public school for my future children. While private schools have the real benefit of being selective about which students they accept, you still have behaviour and bullying issues. What is lacking, in my point of view, is the sense of community that a public school has. At private schools, there is a dominant culture. It is obvious. In a public school, students learn about interacting with different cultures which simply cannot be taught in a classroom but is an essential skills.
About this 'better quality teachers'. Pish-Posh. We all graduate with the same degree. We all learn the same skills. You can find truly inspiring and high-performing teachers in the public school systm.