Funding uncertainty for low-fee schools

Many small low-fee Independent and Catholic schools could be squeezed by the Gonski school model and forced to put up school fees to cover shortfalls, said Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education today.

“Details in the Gonski report suggest that the resource model will assume all non-government schools receive a minimum 10 per cent of their income from private sources including school fees,” Mr Pyne said.  

“However hundreds of small low-fee non-government schools around the country have less than 10 per cent income from private sources and may have a shortfall of funding,” he said.

“This is the equivalent of the Government ordering schools to increase their schools fees to meet the minimum benchmark.  

“In Queensland 77 low-fee Catholic schools receive less than the 10 per cent in minimum private contributions and could potentially be affected.

“The lack of details surrounding the school resource model leads to more and more unanswered questions and more uncertainty within the schools sector.

“If the Government is so convinced the new model will work then why aren’t they answering clearly the questions to do with indexation and explaining what the report means by measuring parents ‘capacity to pay’.

“Why won’t they guarantee low-fee schools will not have to increase schools fees to meet a 10 per cent minimum?

“The Gillard Government hasn’t even committed to fund this new model, which requires new spending of $113 billion over twelve years, if funding is indexed at the current 6 per cent.

“Only the Coalition is offering certainty. We will maintain the current model and make no changes to the quantum of funding and no changes to indexation,” Mr Pyne said. 

March 7, 2012