“I want to make it absolutely clear that Pascoe Vale Girls’ Secondary College will continue to be a girls-only school, ”the minister told parliament last week.
Lizzie Blandthorn, Pascoe Vale’s state Labor MP, also told parliament that making the school mixed “was not the answer to the concerns that were raised”.
Education Minister James Merlino Credit: Chris Hopkins
“A state girls’ school should remain an option in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, just as it remains an option in the city and east of the city, ”Blandthorn said.
“In fact, eliminate this option and there is a very real possibility that some girls will be completely denied access to secondary education.”
Elsewhere, Mentone Girls ‘Secondary College saw a 6% drop in student numbers, and Matthew Flinders Girls’ Secondary College in Geelong saw a 9.72% drop.
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But not all government girls’ schools were reduced in number. Richmond Melbourne Girls College grew by 1.33%, while Canterbury Girls Secondary College maintained its ground.
Karen Money, former principal of Melbourne Girls’ College, now executive director of the Department of Education and Training, said it was important to keep all public schools in Victoria for girls so that students and parents could choose.
“There are many co-educational schools; there are not so many unisexual schools left that are public schools and therefore accessible [all] families, ”he said.
Recent closures, including Preston Girls High in 2016 and the merger of Gilmore College for Girls’ with Footscray High in 2020, have reduced the number of girls-only state schools in Victoria.
Money said it was important to provide unisexual schools with a healthy learning environment free of “teenage anxiety.”
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“All that adolescent negotiation; what we found is that girls could really focus on academia and their areas of passion, without having to compete with teenagers in the classroom, ”she said.
Former independent Wills federal MP Phil Cleary supported the RISE campaign in North Moreland schools, saying Pascoe Vale Girls “has a status level that would allow it to become an attractive mixed school and successful high quality “.
“We have a major problem because we’re seeing a drift from public schools to the private sector,” Cleary said.
“We need to ensure that schools in these areas are diverse, but that they offer every opportunity to children aspiring to college and professional life,” he said.
“We need to provide schools with the right and attractive resources to ensure that aspiring parents do not fall in love with the myth that the only way to achieve their children’s success is through a private school.”
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