The NSW Teachers Federation believes there is an overwhelming case for prioritising the funding of public school building programs instead of promising to fund the Catholic and Independent systems with an additional half a billion dollars as the Berejiklian Government has announced.
Public schools enrolments are growing and are projected to continue to grow strongly over the coming decade while the rate of growth for private school enrolments has halved since 2013.
The NSW Auditor General and Infrastructure NSW have identified there is insufficient funding being applied to the public school system to meet current and projected demand.
Public schools get no funding for capital investment from the Federal Government while all private schools already have access to billions of dollars in capital grants from both the State and Federal Governments.
My School data reveals that in 2016, the latest year for which statistics are available, capital expenditure in the Independent sector was 4.5 times greater per student than in public schools. In Catholic schools, capital spending was just over twice the rate per student of public schools.
As noted by Maurie Mulheron, NSW Teachers Federation President:
“Infrastructure NSW has revealed that current funding will deliver only a quarter of the learning spaces needed and urged the NSW government to commit to fully funding its School Assets Strategic Plan”.
“The State Government should be prioritising the construction of public schools.”
“We know that by 2031, our public school system will be accommodating an extra 168,000 students. All of that adds up to an extra 7,200 classrooms required by the public system in NSW by 2031 on the State Government’s own predictions.”
“Along with the NSW Government, the Commonwealth should also be making a substantial commitment to the construction and expansion of NSW public schools.”
“This additional half a billion dollars to private schools comes just months after the NSW government signed a funding agreement with the Commonwealth acknowledging that Catholic and Independent schools are currently above their legislated funding entitlement.”
