BUDGET CUT IN FUNDING FOR NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

AISV, 6 May 2009

Victorian Government funding for non-government schools will fall by $4.5 million, from $476.4 million in 2008-09 to $471.9 million in 2009-10.

Funding provided to non-government schools under the Grants to Upgrade Needy Non-Government Schools Program will be cut by $13.7 million in 2009-2010.

The figures were revealed in the Victorian Budget brought down on 5 May.

Other funding for non-government schools increased by $9.2 million in line with indexation and enrolment growth.

The Treasurer, Mr Lenders announced an increase of $1.7 billion in funding for education in the Budget, although much of this amount included funding provided by the Australian Government through the Building the Education Revolution Program and National Partnerships.

It was the second consecutive year that new funding programs announced by the Treasurer failed to provide additional assistance for independent and Catholic schools.

However the Minister for Education, Ms Pike said in a media release that ‘the Brumby Labor Government is delivering record funding to schools to give every Victorian child the opportunity to have the best start in life. By delivering to the education system new school buildings, the latest technology and more support for teachers, we are providing 21st century students with a modern education and the skills to get the jobs of the future.’

Government school capital upgrades

Continuing the government’s previous commitment to upgrade every government school in Victoria, the 2009-10 Budget included $402 million to rebuild, renovate or extend 113 government schools, in addition to Commonwealth funding.

The funding included:

• $128 million for 20 school modernisation projects
• $92 million for 10 school regeneration projects
• $47.3 million to construct replacement schools
• $31 million to purchase land for the construction and expansion of schools
• $25.1 million to construct four new schools in Donnybrook, Point Cook, Berwick and Wyndham Vale
• $24 million to continue the construction of the two selective entry government schools in Berwick and Wyndham Vale
• $19 million to replace 400 old portable buildings with newer relocatable classrooms
• $16 million to update 18 small rural schools
• $12 million to build three specialist science and mathematics centres
• $7.6 million for 46 small schools to modernise or upgrade existing facilities.

Other schools funding

The Budget has also provided:

• $38 million to introduce educational reforms required to implement targets agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments in areas such as literacy and numeracy, teacher quality and indigenous education
• $15.2 million to meet the increased demand for the VET in schools program. It is not clear whether any of this funding will be made available to students in non-government schools
• $7 million to invest in computers in government schools
• $2.5 million to continue the Community Engagement Project. The project was introduced under the 2008 Budget to inform parents and the communities about ‘leading-edge teaching practices’ in Victorian government schools.

Skills Funding

An additional $120.9 million will be allocated under the Victorian Government’s skills and employment package. While most of the funding was allocated to employment initiatives, it also included $66.9 million to introduce a new student management system for Victoria’s TAFE network and $3 million to plan and design an aviation training academy based at Tullamarine Airport.

Early Childhood Funding

The government will allocate $13.6 million to employ additional staff in kindergartens, in response to meet increased demand by providing 4000 additional places.

Responses to the Budget

Both AISV and the Catholic Education Office expressed concern that the Victorian Budget had failed to acknowledge students in non-government schools. Click here to read the AISV media release (PDF).

 

 

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