Gonski school funding reforms can be fixed in time: Catholics

THE Catholic education sector believes Kevin Rudd can address its problems with Labor's school funding reforms in time for the coming school year.

THE Catholic education sector believes Kevin Rudd can address its problems with Labor's school funding reforms in time for the coming school year.

The National Catholic Education Commission raised its key objections with the Gonski reforms directly with the Prime Minister and his new schools education minister yesterday.

Key among them are concerns about the autonomy of the sector, which educates 20 per cent of students, and about constraints on how it can spend its money.

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne today demanded the government delay its reforms for 12 months, a prospect left open by Mr Rudd in yesterday's talks.

But NCEC executive director Ross Fox said if the government took up the sector's issues, the new funding model could start on schedule.

“We believe if our significant concerns can be addressed, there is sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements for 2014,” Mr Fox said.

It's understood that the NCEC told Mr Rudd and Education Minister Bill Shorten that it needed to secure more autonomy for the sector and this could be delivered within the scope of the Gonski legislation that went through the parliament last month.

It wants axed from the implementation plan the requirement that funding allocations be approved by the minister.

It also objects to the requirement that funding be contingent on specific outcomes that cannot yet be costed.

Mr Rudd said he welcomed the progress of Gonski negotiations.

“This means that the Catholic systemic schools are one step closer to guaranteed extra funding of around $3 billion over six years,” he said.

“On this basis, the NCEC agreed to take forward to state and territory Catholic Education Commissions the final school funding settings that will deliver extra benefits and funding for Catholic school students across the country.”

He said further negotiations would follow with the NCEC and other schooling sectors to finalise the regulations for the new Australian Education Act 2013.

“The full amount of extra funding will flow to every Catholic systemic school in Australia if all states and territories sign up to the Australian government's Plan for Better Schools and contribute their share,” Mr Rudd said.

Mr Pyne said voters were fed up with the uncertainty over Labor's school funding reforms.

“The Coalition has said from the beginning that the government has left it far too late.

“It is not possible to introduce a new school funding model on January 1 next year.”

He said putting off the reforms would “give an incoming government time to sort out the chaos and the mess” that Labor had created.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has announced in its pre-election policy statement that education funding models must be fair and equitable, “reflecting accurately contributions from the commonwealth, state governments and parent contributions”.