South Coast teachers have banded together at Nowra High School to rally for fairer funding between private and public schools.

The rally comes after the Australian Education Union (AEU) released a report highlighting the stark disparity between public and private school funding.

The report titled ‘A decade of inequity’: How Australian governments have funded private schools above public schools since 2013, stated that under current arrangements, public schools will be underfunded by $31.7 billion within the next five years. 

Private schools will receive $2.1 billion in over-funding comparatively to the public school sector within the same time frame.

NSW Teachers Federation President Henry Rajendra has called upon Anthony Albanese and the Labor government to fix the issue.

“Mr Albanese may not have created this problem but he can’t remain asleep at the wheel. It’s time to take control of this wholly inequitable mess and clean it up. Our kids’ future demands leadership,” Rajendra says.

"Public schools in New South Wales do the heavy lifting, educating two and half times the number of students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds. Public schools also educate almost three times as many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Yet, they are not receiving the funding they need to meet these students' needs.”

Outlined in the report, six in ten NSW private schools are receiving more government funding compared to public schools, and the gap in funding received is as high as $7,282 per student. 

Rajendra stressed the importance of action being taken now, as school funding for the next decade is being negotiated between the Commonwealth and the New South Wales government right now.

“The urgency is clear and we call on Premier Chris Minns to fight hard for New South Wales’ public school students in these negotiations.”