Give a Gonski… - CareforKids.com.au®

Give a Gonski…
to get more funding for Australian education

This month we're urging parents to "Give a Gonski" and get behind funding for Australian schools (that's funding by the government not by parents who already spend half their cash and spare time doing fund-raising events at their kids' schools), because Australia is way behind on our future generations' education.

When you travel to other countries, particularly some of the European ones, even the recession-ravaged Spain and France, you realize just how backwards and stingy we are in terms of investing in our children's education in Australia.

Small example, but very significant one: I've recently moved to southern Spain with my seven year old daughter and have enrolled her to start in September at our local village school.

These rural schools have classes of no more than 16, free text books, free bus service, all the technical and other equipment you'd expect in a modern school and plenty of teachers.

Before we moved to Spain and knowing that throwing in our daughter at the deep end as far as language was concerned could be an issue (even though by all accounts they get fluent amazingly quickly once immersed), we enrolled her with a private tutor to help get her started. Here in Spain over the long summer holidays we've also got a Spanish tutor who is coming to our house three times a week for an hour or so each time and is making huge impact.

I still had a few concerns about her integration into lessons and playing catch up until a couple of other expat parents explained that their kids had received extra tutelage from the school, totally free of charge when they moved here.

This was confirmed by my daughter's school who told me that they would ask for an extra teacher, who will basically be there, one on one, for as long as she needs them to be, to help her catch up in Spanish. Really quite amazing for a small, pretty rural community, but it's because they care about children's education and their future generations. It's as important to them as their siestas and fiestas! And they are seriously important, let me tell you! Spain's in the financial toilet, but they'll never scrimp on education.

Australia is a rich country, but is so reticent to really spend on education. It apparently values family and is proud of its low unemployment, but yet it still has no compulsory pre-school; starts kids at school later than pretty much any other country I know (in Europe you're there by the age of 4 in kindergarten and reading and writing well before 5) and routinely hold kids back a year so some don't even start until they're six years old.

Schools have to beg and plead for the most basic equipment every state school is on a permanent fund-raising drive to raise money for books etc.

It's yet another area where Australia really needs to give up the ridiculous State-based everything and just go Federal. It may be geographically large, but the fragmentation of such a small population for the sake of having a government in each State is a ridiculous, complete waste of tax payers' money that could be going to much better use in a combined pot instead of being squandered on funding State politics and dodgy dealings of said State politicians. But I digress, so back to the issue in hand…

The Gonski Review was the most comprehensive investigation of the way schools are funded in Australia in almost 40 years. It was commissioned by the Federal Government and conducted by an expert panel headed by senior businessman David Gonski. The final report was released in February 2012 and found that Australia is investing far too little in education and, in particular, in public schools.

As a consequence, too many students are missing out on the resources they need and there are growing gaps in the achievements of students from different backgrounds.

Gonski recommended a $5 billion a year injection of funding into public and private schools (75 per cent to public schools) and an overhaul of the way the money is distributed to ensure it is going where it is most needed.

That money would be invested in local schools in ways that help students learn such as:
Smaller class sizes; extra specialist teachers in areas such as literacy and numeracy; greater support for students with higher needs such as those with disabilities; additional training and classroom support for teachers.

But so far the politicians in Canberra are refusing to commit the extra funding or to make Gonski law in 2012.

So, as parents we need to get behind education and Give A Gonski and you can start by downloading the factsheet here and passing on the word…

Because at the moment, like a few of my old school reports, Australian education could do better.

Sophie Cross is a public relations consultant and writer who has publicised and written about everything from makeup to The Muppets, child care to celebrity chefs and perfume to Partners in Population and Development! Originally from the UK and as a languages graduate she has worked around the world, living in Australia for the last 11 years where she runs, PR Chicks.

She is sometimes devoted wife of Stu and always devoted mother to Francesca and two cats, with whom she's embarked on her latest adventure, living and working remotely from their little piece of Spanish heaven in Chite, the Lecrin Valley, just south of Granada. And FYI it's pronounced "ch-ee-tay" not shite.