澳洲政府应该增加对比较穷的公立学校的财政支持

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Sydney Morning Herald昨天有一篇文章是关于政府对于公立学校和私立学生财政支持的报道。
新快报上有了中文翻译，大家可以看看一些具体的数据。
http://www.xkb.com.au/read.php?id=120605

經濟學家呼籲聯邦政府增加對窮校撥款

一份經濟分析發現，儘管聯邦政府出資140億元用於對學校建築進行升級改造，但是，公立學校和私立學校之間的差距還是很大。

前世界銀行教育和政策分析師Adam Rorris說，儘管學校對於政府撥給額外資金用於建設新的音樂廳和改善設施表示歡迎，但是額外的資金還是不會發放給最窮的公立學校和私立學校。

Rorris說，去年估計的私立學校獲得的資本投資為每個學生1774元，高於公立學校每個學生的948元，差距為628元。

今年，私立學習的學生每人可以獲得3020元，而公立學校的學生每人為2470元，差距為550元，低於去年。

Rorris說，“政府的140億元撥款惠及了所有學校，包括長期以來資金貧乏的公立學校和較為貧窮的私立學校。但是，由於這筆錢沒有針對性，所以公立學校和私立學校之間，較為貧窮的和富有的私立學校之間還是存在差距。”

澳洲中學校長協會的會長Andrew Blair 說，資本投資是非常受歡迎的。他說，“但是，我們還需要做更多的協商工作，花更多的時間去規劃如何將這筆錢撥給學校。”

聯邦教育部長姬拉德說，要校長們迅速作出反應可能會給他們造成壓力，但是她相信他們會迅速有效地作出反應。她說，“人們會有一種壓力感和責任感，因為他們需要迅速作出反應，確保項目順利實施。”

新州教育和培訓廳長費芙的一名女發言人說，項目的主要目的是刺激經濟，為當地建築業創造就業機會。 （月茹）

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Spending should target poor schools, analyst says

http://www.smh.com.au/national/s ... 1-9jra.html?page=-1

Anna Patty
Education Editor

April 2, 2009

THE equity gap between public and private schools will remain despite the Federal Government's $14 billion stimulus package to upgrade school buildings, an economic analysis has found.

The former World Bank education economist and policy analyst, Adam Rorris, said that while schools welcomed the additional capital funding to build new halls and improve facilities, the extra money would not target the poorest public and private schools.

"It does not take into consideration the existing capital investment in schools," he said.

Mr Rorris said the estimated capital investment for private schools last year was $1774 per student, compared to $948 per public school student.

This year, it would increase to $3020 for each private school student and $2470 for a public school student. This would reduce the equity gap from $826 to $550 this year.

"The $14 billion provides a large dollop of money for all schools including public schools that have been starved of funds for a long time and poorer private schools," Mr Rorris said.

"But because the money is untargeted, the gap remains between public and private schools and between the poorer and wealthy private schools.

"While it narrows the gap … it is not a long-term solution. A substantial gap remains and a sizeable gap will return at the end of the three-year period of the funding program."

The Federal Government's "Building the Education Revolution" program aims to create new jobs and stimulate the economy. It includes $12.4 billion for primary schools to build new facilities and $1 billion for high schools to build new language or science laboratories. Mr Rorris said the building program was being rushed through before schools could properly consider how to make the best use of the money.

"A practical recommendation would be for the Commonwealth and the states to agree to allow for the [disadvantaged] schools to be given more time to plan for their investment effectively and to increase the amounts available to the high priority [disadvantaged] schools," he said.

The head of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, Andrew Blair, said the capital funding was very welcome. "But there needs to be more consultation and planning time provided to school communities," he said.

The Federal Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, said the urgent response needed to stimulate the economy may have placed some pressure on principals. But she was confident they could respond quickly and effectively. "Yes, a sense of pressure and a sense of stress because the guidelines are there to keep people moving and to make sure that this program gets delivered quickly," she said.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth, said the program was primarily designed to provide stimulus to the economy and create local jobs in the building and construction industry.

"Accordingly, the Commonwealth has set very strict deadlines on the nomination and completion of projects," she said.