Budget fails country schools

by Nicole Calnan

The Howard Government has yet again demonstrated its contempt for public school students and teachers in its recent Budget.

The Budget announcements will continue to massively disadvantage public school students and teachers, but in particular it will disadvantage those public schools in country areas.

The $457.4 million over four years for the National Literacy and Numeracy Vouchers is nothing more than an extension of its $700 literacy voucher scheme announced previously. This scheme has been underutilised by parents and has been poorly promoted by the Government. In addition to this, it poses huge problems for students and parents in country areas in gaining access to a qualified 'tutor' in order to use the voucher. Principals and teachers in country areas have reported that parents in their towns are at a loss at what to do with the voucher as there is no one suitable in the town to provide the tuition and so the voucher goes wasted and their child doesn't receive the additional assistance they require simply because they reside in a small country town.

Nobody is better placed to provide the individual assistance that students need in literacy and numeracy than qualified teachers. This money should be allocated directly to schools to enable them to employ additional teachers to provide the additional individual assistance students require.

If you combine the $53.2 million for Rewarding Schools for Improving Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes (the 'up to $50,000 bonus' for schools) and the money for literacy and numeracy vouchers, then this equates to an additional approximately 1800 full time teacher equivalent teachers per year for the next four years across Australia (NSW step 13).

A school from the Riverina region reported for example, that they had 10 students 'eligible' under the requirements for a voucher. If that money had gone directly to the school, it would have enabled them to employ an additional support teacher for one day a week for two terms. These are teachers who have the necessary skills and knowledge to work closely with our most needy students and provide them with the individual support and assistance that they require.

The additional $121 million that the Federal Government will spend assisting regional and remote non government schools to support students to achieve better outcomes is offensive. This 'initiative' will see even more money be spent in the relatively few non government schools in regional areas at the expense of country public schools, despite the fact public schools educate most of the students in country regions and that they are some of the most disadvantaged schools in this country.

This Budget should be seen as nothing more than an insult to public schools. Public schools right across NSW will continue to provide a high quality education to all the students who walk through the gates despite being neglected yet again by an ideological Howard Government.

Nicole Calnan is a Country Organiser.

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Last Modified: 24 May 2007