Prime Minister stalls on $5 billion education review funding

JULIA Gillard has refused to commit to $5 billion schools funding boost recommended by the long-awaited Gonski review.

Julia Gillard Gonski review

JULIA Gillard has refused to commit to $5 billion schools funding boost recommended by the long-awaited Gonski review.

Releasing the review by David Gonski today Ms Gillard said it was "very detailed" and "impressive in its insights".

But she said the government would not be rushed into making any funding commitments, and would undertake a detailed consultation process on the report's proposals.

"We want to work through on all of the details of the report first," she said.

"Of course we are going to do the in-detail work now and I am not going to make financial commitments for forthcoming government budgets until we've done all that work.

"We will work this through but we do not go around making promises about the government's budget until we are in a position about what it will all mean."

School Education Minister Peter Garrett said Labor would establish working groups to test the recommended model in the Gonski review, the biggest review of school funding since 1974.

Mr Garrett said there would be a number of public stakeholder events in coming months which would include online forums and community meetings.

"We will have an opportunity as we roll our sleeves up to work closely with the community," he said.

At present, the commonwealth provides the bulk of funding for non-government schools and the states and territories fund the public school systems.

The Gonski report, chaired by a panel headed up by Mr Gonski, recommends the federal government assume a greater role in funding public schools and the states and territories increase their role in funding non-government schools, which would effectively pool all government funding for schools.

The report makes 41 recommendations for a new funding model to prioritise spending on the education of disadvantaged and low-performing students.

It says an urgent "significant additional investment" is required because of the federal government's commitment that no school would lose a dollar and the slipping of the performance of Australian students in international and national tests.

Greens Leader Bob Brown said he feared the report would be put "on the shelf" and not sufficiently acted on.

"The Greens will ensure there is action taken," Senator Brown said.

Australian Education Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said the Gonski review represented a "once in a lifetime opportunity" for the government.

He called on the government to announce a timeline of investment immediately.

"New funding is due in 2014 so we should see legislation this year, transitional arrangements next year and move on to a new era of funding in Australia," Mr Gavrielatos said.

"There should be no delay."