Union reveals schools shortfall

TASMANIAN government school class sizes could be reduced and more teachers could be employed if the federal government funded schools to the national minimum standard, new figures show.

Data released by the Australian Education Union reveals the impact on Tasmanian students of what it describes as a shortfall in federal government school funding.

AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said every public-school student in Hobart was missing out on $1289 because of the failure of the federal government to ensure that every school was funded to a minimum of 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).

The SRS is an estimate of how much total public funding a school needs to meet its students’ educational needs based on the 2011 Gonski Review.

The federal government aims to fund about 80 per cent of the SRS for non-government schools and 20 per cent for government schools. The rest comes from the state budget.

Australian Education Union Tasmania branch president David Genford said getting government schools up to the SRS would lead to huge improvements in educational outcomes. “With a minimum of 100 per cent of the SRS, public school students in greater Hobart would benefit from increased support and more individual attention,” Mr Genford said.

Total funding for non-government schools has risen faster than for government schools over the last decade.

Government schools in this state will receive an average of 93 per cent of the SRS this financial year.

A boost in commonwealth funding to the bare minimum would cut average class sizes by four students and allow schools to employ four more teachers each, the union says.