Commissioned by state education departments, a report on the changing role of public schools in Australia found that 62 per cent of Ballarat students who underperformed in basic reading skills were enrolled in public schools.

Report author and Melbourne University professor of education Richard Teese analysed NAPLAN testing from the Ballarat region, alongside schools in other locations including Warrnambool, Bairnsdale and Dandenong.

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Professor Teese said public schools in Ballarat faced the greatest challenges at the start of secondary education as their cohorts included a majority of underperforming students.

“In Ballarat, if we put all public and private schools together, what we see is that 62 per cent of the poorest readers are educated in government schools and only 38 per cent in non-government schools,” Professor Teese said.

“By contrast 74 per cent of the best readers are educated in non-government schools but only 26 per cent in government schools.”

The report, included in a submission to an independent review of school funding chaired by Sydney businessman David Gonski, also found the current system of education funding widened the gap between private and public schools.

Professor Teese said funding to non-government schools should be needs-based and that growth of private schools should be carefully regulated. He said government schools had “the hardest work to do ... and are the least well-resourced”.

“And it is causing segregation. It is causing rich to educate just with the rich and the poor with the poor.”

The report found that the proportion of students from wealthy families attending public schools had declined by more than 10 per cent in the two decades to 2006.