Schools, Australia, 2006

More students are staying in school and class sizes have gone down, but there are also fewer male teachers than there were 20 years ago, according to ABS annual schools census. The survey shows that as at August 2006, nearly three-quarters of all students were staying in school to Year 12; 20 years ago, less than half of all students stayed to Year 12. In 2006, 32% of teachers were male, which is a decrease of 10% since 1986. This survey presents statistics on schools, students and teaching staff involved in the provision or administration of primary and secondary education, in government and non-government schools for all states and territories. Schools are classified by level of education (primary, secondary) and category (government, non-government); non-government affiliation (Catholic/Independent); students are classified by level and year of education, full-time/part-time, age, sex and category of school attended; teaching staff are classified by level of school education, category of school and sex. Also includes apparent retention rates for students to Years 9, 10, 11 and 12, plus student/teaching staff ratios, school age participation rates and some information on indigenous students. Some of the statistical tables are presented in time series format