Archbishop to be “very involved” in education

22 Feb 2012

By Robert Hiini

Catholic students deserve no less than other students when it comes to quality education.

Here is how Perth’s Archbishop-designate Timothy Costelloe SDB answered a question on education during a media conference at St Mary’s Cathedral on 20 February.

Question: With the Gonski Review coming out today, how do you see your role vis-à-vis education? Do you expect to take a hands-on role?

I do expect to be very involved in the field of education and Catholic education in particular … I’m a trained teacher myself and taught in secondary schools for some years before I went overseas to do further study.

And since I’ve been bishop I’ve been heavily involved in education – in Catholic education – both in Victoria and also nationally.

So it’s an area about which I feel very passionate.

The Gonski Review, of course, has just been published today. I haven’t had the chance to have a look at it … And so I’m reluctant to make any specific comments but I would just make this point:

The Prime Minister and Minister Garrett have spoken often about their determination to make sure that every child has access to the best possible education.

And whatever funding arrangements emerge from the Gonski Review and whatever decision the government finally takes, it is very important that at the heart of every decision is this conviction of the government – one that I think we would all share –  that children and young people have the right to the very best education they can possibly receive and that’s true even if they happen to go to a Catholic school.

So I would be very disappointed if we were to discover that in the process of implementing whatever recommendations the government accepts our funding were to decrease or were not to keep pace with the constant growth in the cost of education.