NT government facing pressure to abolish policy losing remote schools millions
Pressure is mounting on the Northern Territory government to abolish an education policy that has some remote schools losing millions of dollars a year. The results of a national review into education outcomes will soon land on the government's desk, with transparency of its school spending expected to be a sticking point in negotiations with federal counterparts, later this year.
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TVTranscript
00:00 An education policy that strips poorly attended remote schools of federal funding, once again
00:07 in the firing line.
00:09 The Central Land Council would like to see an end to the NT government's effective
00:13 enrolment policy.
00:15 This sees remote schools funded on attendance rather than on the number of students on the
00:21 books.
00:23 The Territory Government says it won't budge from its planned 2025 repeal.
00:27 It's been a report and we've seen that it has to be done in a staged, managed and transitioned
00:31 way and that's the plan.
00:33 The Education Minister instead looking for a bigger piece of the pie in the next federal
00:37 school resourcing agreement.
00:39 We always advocate for the Northern Territory's fair share and recognition that with your
00:44 national funding models you can't just pop on what works in Sydney and Melbourne and
00:51 Perth in the Northern Territory.
00:53 But an incoming federal review will run a microscope over how the Territory allocates
00:58 federal funding.
00:59 An early consultation paper from the Federal Government says we don't have a clear picture
01:03 of how funding is allocated or spent.
01:06 Remote educators laying the responsibility for equitable school funding squarely at the
01:11 Northern Territory Government's feet.
01:13 They're closer to us, they're able to come out and look.
01:16 You're not going to get people from Federal to come to Little Borre Lula just to have
01:19 a look at what we need.
01:21 The Northern Territory Government can do that and I would assume it's their job to do that.
01:25 The Central Land Council wants greater transparency over the Commonwealth's almost half a billion
01:30 dollar input into Territory schools.
01:32 The moment the Northern Territory receives this funding in, there's no accountability,
01:37 there's no transparency in terms of how this funding is being allocated to the needs of
01:44 remote communities and remote schools.
01:47 A fight for fair where every dollar makes a difference.
01:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]