Image: Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car at John Palmer Public School. Image: Prue Car/Facebook.
By ROBBIE MASON
Some students across NSW are returning to school for term 3 with upgraded facilities, according to a NSW Government press release, although the announcement comes at an awkward time following a damning investigation by staff at Guardian Australia, which exposes the funding gap between public and private schools across the nation.
The state government has supported the construction of new teaching spaces, preschool classrooms, libraries and play areas at 4 different public schools, while Chatswood Public School will see 60 new classrooms installed by week 3 of the school term. Improvements to facilities are also underway at John Palmer Public School in Sydney’s north-west.
The NSW Labor government has focused on converting demountable classrooms into permanent buildings.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said, “the number of demountable classrooms ballooned under the former government’s 12-year term by more than a third, and we are committed to addressing this issue.”
John Palmer Public School Principal Lisa Crawford expressed appreciation for the school upgrades, stating “it’s so exciting for the students and our whole school community to watch our new school buildings being built.”
However, Guardian Australia has exposed the poor governance responsible for Australia’s inequitable education system this week with a series of exclusive stories. Data obtained by the masthead has shown that private school funding has risen twice as much as public school funding in the decade following the landmark Gonski review – a report which provided a raft of recommendations to encourage a more equitable distribution of education funding.
The data indicates that 98% of private schools receive funding above the Schooling Resource Standard recommended by Gonski. More than 98% of public schools receive funding below that benchmark.
Guardian Australia has also demonstrated this week that the country’s education system entrenches disadvantage, impacting Indigenous children and regional areas significantly, and that private schools are better able to attract and retain teachers and principals.
Discussing the shift in enrolments between public and private schools and news that parents are preferencing private schools, NSW Teachers Federation President, Angelo Gavrielatos, said, “the last ten years of State and Federal Coalition Government policies which delivered greater increase in funding to private schools while neglecting public schools has continued to fuel the enrolment shift.”
“Unless this is reversed we’ll see a deepening inequality and segregation of education, the consequences of which will be far-reaching, not only for individual students but our society as a whole,” he continued.
Critics have slammed the state of Australia’s education system on social media. Comedian and political commentator Craig Reucassel shared the coverage by Guardian Australia on Twitter, writing, “Just ridiculous…”
Describing the situation as a “scandal”, Penny Allman-Payne, a Greens senator from Queensland, wrote on Twitter, “The implementation of Gonski [sic] has been an unmitigated failure”. Author, editor and education writer Maralyn Parker, meanwhile, tweeted, “This is disgusting. All Australians should ashamed of this.”
This is disgusting. All Australians should be ashamed of this. It is downright WRONG. https://t.co/NIFmU4esrP
— Maralyn Parker (@MaralynParker) July 16, 2023
The NSW government has taken strides in shifting temporary teachers and support staff into permanent roles to boost the state’s stretched schools system. In the last 4 months, 8500 school staff have accepted permanent contracts, but questions remain over the sustainability of such employment. Poor wages and intense workloads for teachers are persistent issues which have attracted the attention of the NSW Teachers Federation.
Angelo Gavrielatos from the NSW Teachers Federation said, “The teacher shortage in NSW is the most pressing problem facing our schools and students. The Government should stop dragging the chain on finalising negotiations around salaries and workload.”
“Reaching a new agreement with teachers is by far the most important thing the Government can do to solve the teacher shortage in NSW.”
