Aust, schools’ dilemma

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32736, 13 October 1971, Page 17

Aust, schools’ dilemma

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) SYDNEY, Oct. 12. The financial difficulties experienced for a number of years by Roman Catholic schools in Australia are now reaching crisis proportions in some areas. The problem was brought to the fore recently by the threat of such schools closing in Tasmania if the state did not provide more aid. Now, the Melbourne Roman Catholic Education Office has recommended no expansion of the Church’s secondary school system, but has urged, instead, priority efforts to provide Roman Catholic primary schools. A report by nine highlyqualified educators blames “crippling costs” for the recommendation, and goes on to say: “The present policy of part cover of Roman Catholic children at all levels of schooling has caused unreasonable strain on all sections of the Roman Catholic community. The policy should be replaced by one aiming at total cover at a level determined to be the most vital and possible one to

hold with appropriate Government assistance.” The director of the education office, the Rev. Frank Martin, said today that the report was “endeavouring to set policies to provide some Roman Catholic education for all of the children for some of the time.” Melbourne’s Roman Catholic Education Board will consider the report this week, and will later make recommendations to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne. The report will also be ! studied by the Victorian Government. The Premier 1 (Sir Henry Bolte) said yesterday that the Government ■ fully appreciated that if Roman Catholic students i could not be accommodated in Church schools at second- • ary level they would overi flow into state schools. State aid to private i schools (mostly Roman ’ Catholic) in Australia is i largely a state responsibility, i the Federal Government pro- . viding only minimal help. The states, in difficult fin- : ancial positions themselves, say that they are unable to i provide greatly-increased aid to private schools. Militant state teacher unions and other bodies —

the Defence of Government Schools organisation, for example—strenuously oppose such aid.

In the Federal Parliament last week, the Minister of Education (Mr Fraser) tabled figures showing that independent or private schools expected that capital and recurrent expenditure would outstrip available funds by $267m in the next five years.

Roman Catholic schools accounted for s2o2m of this amount, and other private schools, the remainder. Mr Fraser said that these figures, supplied by the schools, were open to serious questioning.