“The Gillard Labor Government must get the detail right regarding the Index of Community Socio‐Advantage (ICSEA) rankings on the flawed ‘My School’ website, before the revamped site is launched”, said Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan today.
“Regional schools will be disadvantaged by the city‐centric Labor Government as it refuses to correct false and misleading data used to compare schools that will be published on the ‘My School’ website,” Mr Tehan said.
“The Government is using incomplete information to calculate each school’s rating in the ICSEA rankings, giving misleading and incorrect results which are then used to compare schools.
“This false information will be published on the ‘My School’ website so that parents can compare schools, however they will be unknowingly comparing apples to oranges.
“The Labor Government has already made it harder for country students to gain a tertiary qualification by withdrawing Youth Allowance support for some students, now it’s unfairly disadvantaging country secondary and primary schools.
“What is more concerning is that all federal school funding is currently under review, and these rankings may be used in the future to allocate funding for schools.
“For the Labor Government to allocate funding as a result of false information is completely irresponsible, and will lead to many country schools being unfairly disadvantaged and ultimately unviable.
“Under the Gillard Labor Government, rural and regional Australia is copping the raw end of the deal. Our local communities will pay for the fact that the Government has, yet again, botched its figures.
“The Government must review its ICSEA formula, and ensure the outcomes are fair and correct, before it rushes in and publishes false data that will seriously damage our schools”, concluded Mr Tehan.
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