The National Catholic Education Commission met last week. The Commission was joined by Minister Tehan who shared his reflections on the COVID impact on schools. The Minister highlighted the wonderful way in which school communities have responded to the challenges and opportunities presented by COVID. The financial impact on the Federal budget was noted and the Minister flagged that all programs would be under careful scrutiny in future budgets. He reminded the Commission of the importance of non-government schools ensuring that there were tangible benefits to parents, to the Government and to the wider public from the considerable Federal investment in non-government schools.

The Commission spent time examining national student outcome data, enrolment trends and school fees and the implications of these for continuing to fulfil the mission of Catholic education.

The 2021-2023 NCEC Strategic Plan was approved. It has three priority areas: enlivened faith formation and religious education; support the continual improvement of educational outcomes for all students; responding to the needs of families through strong advocacy for recurrent and capital funding, legislation and policy.