AUSTRALIA (Commonwealth Union) – It’s always at the time of an election that the education system receives the best kind of attention. “Which kind?” one might wander. Well, to put it bluntly, the financial kind.
As the Australian election is coming up, we can see the Labour Party coming in and trying to give non – governmental schools all the financial attention they possibly require. The current premier of the state of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, is making massive promises and all we hope is that he can keep them!
Now in this time the premier has promised more than 700 million Australian dollars to all of the low income catholic and independent schools across the state. One can assume on paper this looks amazing but with the recession that has hit the world, where is the money coming from? But of course, one must remember this money will only be available if Daniel Andrews wins the election, giving him a third term in office.
He gave a detailed list of how the money will be distributed. He even stated to reporters that he is doing this because one third of the families send their children to low-fee catholic schools and other independent schools. He went on to say that he as the Premier must ensure that all children receive a good education as that is a fundamental right of a child.
The funding package can be broken down to 450 million dollars being used to build and upgrade all the existing buildings in all the catholic schools and independent schools in the state. Almost 70% of the funds will also be set aside to be distributed to the catholic schools depending on how many students they educate. There will also be funding put towards extracurricular activities for the students. This all seems like a fine plan but one can only hope this will happen if he is reelected.
