Click here to download the complete media release in PDF format.

The Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) today released a survey of primary school principals’ views on the current implementation of the Australian Government’s Building the Education Revolution (BER). APPA President, Leonie Trimper, said of the survey:

“We undertook the survey in order to gauge from School Principals their views on the BER. We received over 2400 responses in the course of just 5 working days. The survey confirms the value that primary school principals place on the BER programs in contributing to the capacity of their schools. The findings clearly demonstrate its positive impact on primary schools across all sectors and States of Australia.”

Click here to download the executive summary of the report on the survey in PDF format.

The survey made clear that school principals from all three sectors and across the country see benefits from the Programs in terms of learning for students. The survey revealed that the overwhelming majority of schools (97%) across all sectors reported that their students would benefit from the BER Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21) program. Results under the BER National School Pride Program (NSP) revealed that 95.8% across the three sectors agreed that work conducted under NSP was going to benefit students. Indicative views from across the sectors
included:

“Multipurpose Venue to use for our Sport and Performing Arts program - a Fantastic asset for our school community” (Catholic sector)

“We were able to rebuild our school oval which has had a dramatic effect on both recess and lunch time play opportunities as well as being supportive of our PE program.” (Independent sector)

A strong match with community need is also clear from the survey results, with more than 90% of principals surveyed across the three sectors agreeing that their schools were receiving projects the community wanted. Government schools in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia were less happy than their counterparts in other States and less satisfied than Catholic and Independent schools nationally with the match of their project to community priorities.

“These funds are being used to build a new library - something sorely needed and something our school community could only dream about. For the first time our school will have flexible learning spaces and a facility the equal of any.” (Government sector)

Transparency of costings and implementation of projects emerged as a clear point of difference between the sectors and revealed that problems are most acute for State Government schools. The data registers a protest from some significant parts of the government sector over excessively centralised, opaque processes by State Government education departments and an accolade from the independent and catholic sectors for programs that invest control and decision making with local communities. Less than half (42.9%) of all Government primary school principals reported they were able to access costings for their projects. This compared poorly against Catholic (86.6%) and Independent (93.0%) schools.

Ms Trimper also said that a clear concern expressed by principals was that they had to allocate BER money to basic maintenance purposes rather than dedicated projects. Some principals expressed frustration at the need to spend money on general maintenance such as fixing up leaking roofs and refurbishing toilets whilst other schools were able to spend all their money on value added facilities such as electronic whiteboards and new playgrounds.

“There was an agreement between the governments that no state jurisdiction would reduce their maintenance funding. It is essential that jurisdictions continue to be accountable and transparent about this aspect.”

Ms Trimper said that given the breakdown of the results, it was clear that difficulties with program delivery at the State level lay predominantly with the State education departments, and not with individual schools, or with the Federal Government. Ms Trimper also said that despite these difficulties,

“The responses confirm that primary schools are enormously grateful to receive such a significant boost because many have not, to this point, been able up to raise sufficient capital from community or governmental sources to substantially extend their facilities for learning. Rural and small schools report significant approval of the funding stream enabling projects formerly beyond their reach. This program has turned that on its head.”

APPA represents approximately 7,200 primary school principals across both the government and non-government sectors.

Attachment 1
Survey questions:
1. In which state or territory is your school located?
2. Which sector?
3. Are your students going to benefit from the BER Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21) project?
4. Are your students going to benefit from the BER National School Pride (NSP) program?
5. Within the Commonwealth guidelines for the Building the Education Revolution program, is your school receiving projects that you and your school community want?
6. Have you been able to access the specific costings for your projects?
7. Based on the above responses, please briefly comment on your school's specific Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21) project.
8. Based on the above responses, please briefly comment on your school's specific National School Pride (NSP) program.