CANBERRA SCHOOLS ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

Canberra schools look set to face drastic funding cuts under Labor’s plan to radically change the current funding model for Australian schools.

The Gonski Review, handed to the government over three months ago and made public only today, calls for a change to the way schools are funded, but all indications are Federal Labor will use some recommendations to deliver a crushing blow to the non-government education sector.

“Potentially every non-government school is on a hit-list and, for Canberrans, that is a very worrying prospect”, Senator Humphries said today.

“The Government has failed to give any guarantee that school fees won’t rise should they implement their proposed model, so now parents have to sit and wait to find out if they’ll be slugged even more to send their children to school”.

The Gonski Panel recommended that a new Independent Authority be created to develop an annual indexation process, a process that Labor has not committed to.

“We already know the Greens’ education policy will destroy the non-public education system – crippling Canberra where non-government school attendance is highest, and now Labor won’t commit to supporting fair indexation for school funding.

“It is quite clear that non-government education is the latest addition to the Labor-Greens alliance hit-list.

“The Government has had months to assess the findings of the review and yet they can’t even guarantee that funding for non-government schools won’t be stripped.

“Only the Coalition can guarantee $4.2 billion indexation payments for schools and ensure school funding remains fair and equitable”, Senator Humphries concluded.

20 February 2012