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Published on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 09:43

Written by Hon Adrian Piccoli MP

The NSW Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli has welcomed the long-awaited Gonski Review of School Funding.

“We support Gonski’s key view that ‘Every child should have access to the best possible education, regardless of where they live, the income of their family, or the school they attend’,” Mr Piccoli said.

“Australia needs a system of school funding that can lift attainment across schools – public or private. Schools with higher needs should receive additional funds, regardless of what sector they are in.

“Any changes to school funding should not be used to pit public schools against private schools.

“The Gonski Review offers the opportunity to rethink our nation’s commitment to schooling and the importance of a high quality school education. Any future productivity growth will be dependent on the skills our students gain in schools and their ability to go on to further education and training.

“New South Wales continues to believe that meeting minimum standards of literacy and numeracy are no longer a high enough aspiration for our students and schools. To compete internationally, higher standards are needed, and any national resourcing standard must be aimed at meeting these standards.

“New South Wales has already commenced significant reforms in school education that will benefit schools across the State, both public and private. The Local Schools, Local Decisions reforms will see all the public schools benefiting from being given much needed flexibility over how they operate.

“In areas such as teacher quality, NSW also has demonstrated national leadership by being the first State to have a comprehensive set of teaching standards in place. The Government’s Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan will also significantly boost investment in the early years of schooling in all school sectors.

“New South Wales looks forward to participating in discussions with the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments to progress the next steps towards reform of the school funding system.”