3 February 2017

Dear Sir

The demand for a Catholic education remains strong despite The Age’s claim (3 February) Catholic school enrolments “steadily decreased” last year.

It might be time for The Age’s education writers to go back to school. It would appear that they have confused a change in the proportion of total enrolments across all school sectors Catholic students represent with a decline in enrolments.

All Victorian school sectors have shown growth over the last 12 months, as they have continued to show since 2009.

Enrolment figures fluctuate between sectors annually. Five years ago, for example, Catholic schools accounted for more than 50 per cent of new enrolment growth in Victorian schools.

What is clear is that enrolment figures are a reflection of capital investment trends.

The Victorian government allocated nearly $1 billion towards new and upgraded state school buildings in its 2016-17 budget. In contrast, only around $17.5 million was made available to support demand in Victorian Catholic schools.

As it stands Catholic parents contribute over 80 cents in every dollar for capital improvements and new school development in Catholic schools while government system parents are not required to contribute anything.

Even despite these constraints we plan to open more than half a dozen new schools in the Melbourne-Geelong area by the start of the 2020 school year – scarcely a symptom of a system in decline.

Yours faithfully

Stephen Elder
Executive Director
Catholic Education Melbourne