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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 3 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 885 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

Some school handbooks omit to mention that subject levies are voluntary. This concerns me. I have asked the department to investigate and take steps to rectify this situation.

But we do encourage parents to make these contributions if they can. There is a long tradition of such contributions in government schools and they represent a source of discretionary funding and a degree of flexibility which schools value.

Mr Speaker, the issue is not about situations where some parents are unable to make contributions. Schools have always had confidential arrangements to assist students in these cases. The issue is about the impact felt on a school when parents who have the capacity to pay, choose not to make the contributions, but expect to receive the benefits made possible by the contributions of others. In such cases, for example, schools may need to consider whether to continue with a relatively expensive elective, when it is clear that not all parents are willing to contribute.

Where a shortfall in discretionary funding from voluntary contributions occurs, neither the government nor schools are committed to providing funds to cover that shortfall.

Mr Speaker, I believe that there will always be a tension - and I want to stress, a healthy tension - between the aspirations of a school community and a government's ability to fully fund these aspirations.

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