Published in the Suns April 2016.

It is critically important that balance be part of the educational equation. This needs to be the aim in primary, secondary and tertiary years.

For many years there was an Australia-wide call for the improvement of school buildings and physical facilities. The quality of facilities varied between States and Territories but overall there were deficiencies that needed to be improved. Some school communities were enterprising, raising money for building programs and facilities upgrade, but these efforts were limited. In some instances, enterprising school councils were criticised for taking initiatives that might set new precedents.

This changed when the Labor Government in 2009 introduced the Building Education Revolution (BER). The BER rolled out $16.2 billion to be spent on capital works in Australia’s 9393 public and private schools. That was in order to support the ailing building and construction industry. There were some issues but overall a significant boost in the physical facilities of schools.

Within the last two months, the NT Government has launched a Territory version of the BER. $68 million has been promised: $58 million for Government Schools and $10 million for private schools. This program is to bolster the local building and construction industry.

Needy Programs

Facilities are always welcome. However they ought not to come at the expense of classroom needs. In line with building construction, teaching and learning programs need to be optimised.

This is particularly the case for a system with increasing needs in a number of key areas. These include the following considerations.

* Increasing movements of Indigenous students into urban schools requires programs to consider the needs of children whose schooling has been in a somewhat different environment.
* Students enrolling from overseas place an onus on schools for cultural awareness, language and dialectical differences.
* There are significant increases in the number of students identified with special learning needs.
* There is a need to provide for meaningful extension programs for academically advanced students.
* Stress on subject specialisation requires more classes and more teachers. Global budgeting with a ceiling on school salary costs, reduces the ability of Principals to meet these needs.
* There is a need to support students with behaviour management needs.
* Schools would benefit from the employment of counsellors to support students through difficult situations.

Priorities

The present emphasis enables governments to demonstrate the quality of buildings and facilities. However, what goes on within schools, teaching and learning contexts, is the most important aspect of education. The number of staff who can be employed is determined by global budgeting which determines the amount of money available to pay salaries. Overloading staff, with resultant stresses, is a consequence of offering wider ranging programs with fewer teachers.

What matters most is the quality of education generated within our schools. Recurrent and enhanced funding to support teaching and learning opportunities is an area of real need. This is where government investment is sorely needed.