Federal Education Minister Stuart Robert has hit back at claims by Australia’s peak teachers’ union that the Federal Budget has stripped nearly half a billion dollars from public school funding, calling the claims "simply wrong and irresponsible”.
“There have been no cuts to Commonwealth funding to government schools or TAFE in the 2022-23 Budget. TAFE continues to receive record funding,” a spokesman for Acting Minister for Education Stuart Robert, told The Educator.
“The Australian Education Union are deliberately misrepresenting the facts to suit a political agenda. To claim this is a cut to government school funding is simply wrong, and it’s irresponsible.”
On Sunday, both the Coalition and Labor hit the campaign trail after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the federal election for May 21. Also campaigning was the Australian Education Union, which has been urging voters in marginal seats not to vote for the Coalition.
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Coalition Government have presided over deep cuts to public education,” Australian Education Union federal president, Correna Haythorpe, said in a statement.
“Mr Morrison has refused to take responsibility for the school sector that teaches the vast majority of Australian children. His failure to fund public schools properly means every student in Australia is missing out on $1,800 school funding, on average, every year.”
Haythorpe said this shortfall will be made worse by the funding pledges made in the Coalition’s 2022 Federal Budget, which she warned would cut public school funding by $559m.
But the Federal Government insists there have been "no cuts to government schools whatsoever".
The spokesman for Acting Ministrer Robert said that as with any school funding figures, the figures in Budget 2022-23 are based on enrolments.
“This was confirmed by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment at Senate Estimates on 1 April and 7 April 2022, and was acknowledged by a Labor Senator present at the hearing,” he said.
“The Federal Budget shows an increase in average annual per student funding growth for government schools to 4.7 per cent over the life of the Quality Schools Package. In fact, this has increased the projection of record funding to all schools between 2018-2029 to $318.9 billion – up from $315 billion.”
With 38 days to go before the election, the Coalition is spruiking its $225.8m funding package, which is says will improve the educational outcomes of school students and the ability of schools to adapt to the post-pandemic teaching and learning environment.
Meanwhile, Labor is pledging a $440m Schools Upgrade Fund that, from 2023, will give public schools the same level of funding for new buildings and world-class facilities that independent schools receive.