Queanbeyan’s school funding set to increase despite federal opposition claims

The needs-based model announced earlier this month by education minister Simon Birmingham will continually increase during the next 10 years.

According to the government’s funding estimator, St Gregory’s Primary School, one of only two private institutions in the city, is the biggest winner and is due to get $10.5 million more in the next decade.

But the school receives the least from the NSW government compared to other Queanbeyan schools, pocketing less than $1.2 million in 2015.

Karabar High School will also get a near $10 million boost.

Jerrabomberra Public School, Queanbeyan Public School and Queanbeyan High School will get an increase of at least $5 million each through to 2027.

Queanbeyan East Primary School was on the lower end of the scale, standing to get $1.5 million more. This was relative to its size, with each student receiving a similar amount to its neighbours.

Queanbeyan High School principal Jennifer Green said while it was clear there would be less money given to schools in NSW, including her own, it was "wonderful" the Coalition government had committed to a model aimed at reducing disparity.

"For years we were in a situation where the minister for education of the time, Christopher Pyne, was espousing there was no equity issue in Australia, which is the biggest nonsense,” she said.

"There's a massive educational gap with socio-economic disparity of location, and we need to address that.”

Ms Green said she was confident in the equity-based funding as the result of David Gonski's comprehensive report into the education sector.

"What we have now is a dance around actual figures, and at that point it becomes a case of political grandstanding as various parties make their stance.”

Earlier in the week, the region’s federal Labor member Dr Mike Kelly released a statement forecasting cuts to education in the region.

Citing the previous government’s six year education model, which was due to end in 2019, he said schools in Queanbeyan and Palerang would lose a combined $4.5 million by switching over to the proposed restructure.

The opposition said the education sector would be $22 billion worse off not seeing former prime minister Julia Gillard’s original Gonski package through.

“The sad fact is NSW schools cannot depend on the federal government to produce proper funding figures on the money they will receive from the budget,” Dr Kelly said.

But the education minister rejected the statement that money would be cut from schools in the region.

During a visit to Queanbeyan Public School, Mr Birmingham said the government’s funding plan would only increase.

“[There will be] around $5 million of additional funding over the next 10 years for the Queanbeyan Public School and, of course, growth rates, as I say, in excess of 5 per cent per student per annum locked in for the next 10 years,” he said.

“The new online estimator shows that schools across Queanbeyan and Palerang would benefit from a funding increase of around $76.2 million in Gonski needs-based funding over the next decade.

“There are no cuts,” Mr Birmingham said. “Funding for NSW students increases by $3.6 billion over the next decade.”