primary schools forgotten

The Australian, Justine Ferrari, 17 October 2007; The Age, Farrah Tomazin, 17 October 2007; The Advertiser, Xanthe Kleinig, 17 October 2007

 

A new report, In the Balance: The Future of Australian Primary Schools, which was jointly commissioned by the
federal Department of Education, Science and Training and the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA),
maintains that government, independent and Catholic primary schools do not have sufficient funds to ‘fulfil the
goals required of them.’

According to the report, assessing whether a school with greater needs is receiving extra support is difficult due to
the different funding systems between levels of government. ‘Because of the political sensitivity of school funding
issues, education authorities do not disclose the total amounts of income and expenditure for individual schools in
their jurisdiction,’ the report says.

The report, which is based on the analysis of 160 primary schools across Australia, found that the poorest third of
schools received $7609 per student, compared to the richest third of schools, which received $7386 per student.
The report also found that:

• Most principals find it difficult to recruit - and keep - the kind of teachers they want, and nearly one-third
  admit they had to accept a teacher who was ‘less than satisfactory’ because they were the best available
  candidate
• Many students struggling with literacy and numeracy were not receiving enough support in the early years
  of primary school when they needed it most
• The proportion of primary school children with disabilities has more than doubled since 1995, but schools
  have had to make up for funding shortfalls for these students

The report was launched by The Minister for Education, Science and Training, The Hon Julie Bishop MP, who said
that ‘there can be no rational debate about schools funding until the state Labor governments reveal the level of
funding provided to individual schools and the reasons why some schools are neglected while others receive
significant resources.’

Opposition education spokesperson, Mr Stephen Smith and Victorian Education Minister Ms Bronwyn Pike, have
accused Ms Bishop of playing the ‘blame game’ and of focusing on ‘short-term politics’ rather than the bigger
picture.

APPA president, Ms Leonie Trimper, says that ‘so far as the major parties are concerned, primary schools have
ceased to exist, for they continue to refer to “the early years, the middle years and senior secondary”. Somewhere
along the line they have forgotten the words “primary schools”.’

The APPA last week launched a campaign to target the marginal seats held by both major parties, as well as all electorates. Ms Trimper added that ‘primary education is in a precarious state across the nation, and that’s not
APPA’s view, it’s the view of independent research that clearly shows primary education has suffered years of
neglect.’

 

 

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