A $362 MILLION increase in Federal Government funding to Australia’s Catholic schools over the next four years will help keep fees affordable for Catholic families, said National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) chairman, Msgr Tom Doyle.
Msgr Doyle was commenting after Prime Minister John Howard announced the funding increase last Sunday in Sydney.
Mr Howard said the Government would provide $12.5 billion for Australia’s 1610 Catholic schools during 2005-08 under a new agreement with the Catholic education commissions.
He said this was $362 million more than they would have received if current funding arrangements continued.
He said the increase resulted from a decision by Catholic education authorities to join the Government’s socio-economic status (SES) funding model for non-government schools, determined by the socio-economic profile of the suburb in which students’ parents live.
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney welcomed Mr Howard’s announcement as ‘great news for Catholic schools in Australia and for the Catholic community’.
He said the SES funding model fitted well with the Church’s concern to make education available to all Catholics and especially to families on low incomes who make up the bulk of Catholic schools’ clientele.
The $12.5 billion allocated to Catholic schools under the SES system will be paid directly to Catholic education commissions and distributed according to need.
UThe Australian Education Union (AEU) criticised the funding increase, with union president Pat Byrne saying the decision ignored the 70 per cent of students at government schools. Mr Byrne said the majority of students from poor backgrounds attended government schools.
Federal Opposition Education spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin welcomed the extra funding for needy Catholic schools but said Mr Howard had not addressed the needs of many other schools around Australia.
Queensland Catholic Education Commission executive director Joe McCorley said the state’s 280 Catholic schools would receive $60 million extra funding for 2005-08 under the new agreement.
Mr McCorley welcomed the boost but said Catholic schools would still operate on significantly less government funding than state schools.
