Catholic surge in north
GROWING demand for Catholic secondary schools in Geelong’s north can only be met if the State Government allocates more funding, leaders say.
Catholic Education Melbourne said capital support from government was crucial to it building new facilities and expanding existing schools to meet demand.
Executive director Stephen Elder said Greater Geelong continued to show some of the state’s greatest growth in demand for Catholic education.
This is backed by ABS statistics showing 23 per cent of all Geelong secondary students were enrolled in a Catholic school in 2017, while 24.8 per cent of residents identified as Catholic.
Grandmother Patrice Allison said Lara needed to be serviced by a secondary school.
Her grandchildren, who attended St Anthony’s Primary, now travelled more than 45 minutes each way daily to attend St Ignatius in Drysdale.
“There is certainly a great demand for a (co-ed) second- ary school in Geelong,” she said. “There are a number of families in the region who send their children to Catholic primary school and then their children have to travel or they can’t go to Catholic secondary school.”
Mr Elder said research suggested enrolments in Catholic schools could grow by as much as a third if greater capital sup- port from government was available to build facilities.
“More help with capital expenditure would lessen the demand on the state system while enhancing parental choice,” Mr Elder said.
The State Government has provided $5.6 million to build and upgrade non-government schools in Geelong, including $2 million for Geelong Luther- an College, $2 million for St Ignatius and $1.58 million for Christian College Geelong.
Education Minister James Merlino said schools across the state were being impacted by significant growth.
“We will continue to work closely with the Catholic Education Office and Independent Schools Victoria into the future,” he said.