Friday 6 August 2010
Catholic primary schools get ‘A+’ on BER
The Director of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Stephen Elder,
congratulated Catholic primary school communities on the results they have achieved
through the Building the Education Revolution (BER).
“The great teaching and learning facilities that have been added to Catholic primary schools
throughout Victoria are a demonstration of the professionalism and commitment of Catholic
primary school principals and the support of parents and parish priests,” Mr Elder said.
“Parents at Catholic schools can see for themselves the results of this program. This has been
a great collaboration between the Catholic Education Office and schools.”
Mr Elder’s comments follow today’s release of the Interim Report of the Building the
Education Revolution Implementation Taskforce which confirmed the value for money and
quality facilities delivered in Catholic schools.
The Interim Report confirmed that Victorian Catholic schools are consistently amongst the
lowest cost for classrooms, multi-purpose halls and libraries. All BER projects in Victorian
Catholic schools have started and timelines for the program are being met.
“This report shows how Catholic schools will continue to make the best use of the
government funding they receive by drawing on the quality of their leaders, teachers and
staff,” said Mr Elder.
“Unfortunately, Catholic education faces a 37% government funding gap compared to
government schools which is bridged, in part, by fees from parents.”
The report found that
“On the question of differences in quality, the architects did not observe any
significant systemic differences between government and Catholic schools in either
NSW or Victoria in the quality of building fabric, services and furniture, fixtures and
equipment.”
Further information from David Ahern, Catholic Education Office Media, on
9267 0228 or 0418 351 383.
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