A re-elected Morrison Government’s commitment to provide more than $20 million to expand the Sporting Schools Program to Year 9 and 10 secondary students has been welcomed by Catholic education.

National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said the program would focus on secondary students increasing their physical activity, improving their overall health and wellbeing, and help young people to develop a strong sporting ethos.

“The school sporting program highlights the importance of sport for young people with Catholic education already implementing their existing grants in many of our schools across Australia,” Ms Collins said.

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Catholic education has commended the Coalition and Australian Labor Party for policies aimed at growing Catholic education has commended the Coalition and Australian Labor Party for policies aimed at growing and strengthening the teaching profession to improve student learning outcomes.

National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said, during the election campaign, the Coalition and Labor have announced policies to address the growing shortage of teachers, to attract high achieving students to the profession and respond to the recommendations of the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review.

“We know from the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review that we need to attract high-quality, diverse candidates to the teaching profession, supported by evidenced-based preparation and training,” Ms Collins said.

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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) is calling on the major parties and a number of candidates in key seats to respond on policy matters in the leadup to the federal election.

The NCEC is the peak body representing over 785,000 students from 465,000 families and employing over 102,000 school staff in 1,755 Catholic schools. This represents around three quarters of a million voters.

NCEC Executive Director Jacinta Collins said the responses will be used to inform parents and staff ahead of the 21 May election.

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Registrations are now open for the National Catholic Education Conference (NCEC2022) to be held in Melbourne from 4-7 September this year, both live and virtually.

National Catholic executive director Jacinta Collins said after two years of COVID-19 disruptions, the conference would definitely proceed.

“This is the first time in six years that Catholic educators have been able to move beyond virtual gatherings in what will be an important opportunity to network with and learn from leaders in Catholic education,” Jacinta said.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic still presenting challenges for many, the conference will be held both live and virtually at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to ensure maximum participation."

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National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins welcomes the endorsement today by Commonwealth, state and territory education ministers of the new Australian Curriculum (F-10), following a lengthy process of review, the first since 2014.

“Catholic education supports a consistent national curriculum that meets the needs of students and teachers, now and into the future,” Ms Collins said.

“The review of the Australian Curriculum has focused on refining, realigning and decluttering the content of the curriculum, while improving consistency across achievement standards. We have been working with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) throughout the consultation process to achieve these aims."

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Catholic education welcomes the Morrison Government’s commitments to increase early childhood services in regional and remote areas, and scholarships for boarding students, announced in tonight’s budget. 

National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said the government’s recognition of regional and remote areas in early childhood and boarding services will strengthen the work schools are already doing in these areas.

“As well as dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, regional, rural and remote areas in Australia have faced significant challenges in the past two years facing floods, drought and bushfires,” Ms Collins said.

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Catholic education welcomes the extension of the Non-Government Reform Support Fund for a further year to assist with the delivery of national reform priorities, announced in tonight’s budget.

National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said the government has provided $62.4 million to extend the National School Reform Fund and Non-Government Reform Support Fund until the end of 2023, aligned to Commonwealth and State Reform Agreements terms. 

“This will enable Catholic schools to continue to implement agreed national and state-based reform initiatives set out in the National School Reform Agreement, and other emerging priorities,” Ms Collins said.

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Additional funding for Indigenous boarding students is an important and critical development, National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said today.

Additional funding for Indigenous boarding students is an important and critical development, National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said today.“The federal government’s move to extend the Indigenous Boarding Providers grants program by an additional $17.3 million will help improve educational outcomes for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students,” Ms Collins said.

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More than 100 Catholic schools across Australia have been recognised by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) for the high gains achieved by students in the latest NAPLAN scores.

National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said 105 Catholic schools, which includes both primary and secondary, were among the top 500 Australian schools achieving well above the average progress in their NAPLAN scores between 2019 and 2021.

“This result reflects the commitment of our school communities to ongoing improvement in learning and teaching across all states and territories,” Ms Collins said.

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Labor’s announcement today of $77 million to teach students about respectful relationships recognises a broad approach is needed to prevent violence and keep young people safe.

National Catholic education executive director Jacinta Collins said Labor’s plan to ensure quality, age-appropriate respect education programs will support a consistent approach across all sectors and states.

“We’ve seen too many examples where young people do not feel safe and have not been appropriately supported to seek help or identify harmful behaviours."

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