Funding for English as a Second Language New Arrival Students. Schools Resourcing Taskforce Discussion Paper
Author: Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) (Australia)
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Educational Needs,Catholics,Foreign Countries,Language Skills,Immigration,Tuition,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Educational Finance,Resource Allocation,Refugees,Classification,Surveys,Second Language Instruction,Costs,Labor Force Development,Government Role,Well Being

At the 18th meeting of Ministerial Council on Education (MCEETYA) (12th-13th May 2005), Council urged the Australian Government to: (1) increase per capita assistance to ESL-NA students with high educational needs, in particular, refugees and humanitarian entrants; (2) provide a new per capita allocation so that specific ethnic and cultural issues faced by those children and families entering into Australia under the refugee and humanitarian category can be addressed; and (3) expand the visa classifications eligible for new arrivals funding. Ministers Nelson and Hardgrave noted the points raised but indicated that a more evidence-based discussion of the issue was warranted to justify any Australian Government increase in funding. The MCEETYA Schools Resourcing Taskforce (SRT) convened a working party of Australian Government, Victorian Government and Catholic Education Commission representatives to work with the SRT secretariat to investigate this issue. A survey of the government state and territory education systems and Catholic education systems across Australia was conducted in March 2006. The survey was structured to collect data about the different modes of delivery of ESL tuition provided by an education system for its newly arrived students. Financial and non-financial data were collected in the survey. All states and territories participated except the Northern Territory. The Catholic Education Commission (CEC) provided data on two dioceses with substantial ESL-NA students. This report includes: (1) an overview of the existing policy settings for providing ESL tuition to newly arrived students, and of recent permanent and temporary immigration trends; (2) a national mapping of the services and different modes of delivery of ESL tuition provided by a system for its newly arrived students; and (3) an analysis of the current per capita costs of providing ESL tuition to newly arrived students and information on the adequacy of current provision for both groups of newly arrived students based on survey data. The Australian Government has expressed reservations about the methodology and conclusions drawn in this Discussion Paper. While these reservations remain, the critical importance of English language skills in improving workforce participation, productivity and aggregate economic outcomes for Australia, and to the well-being of individuals, is readily acknowledged. The Australian Government recognises the need to build on such common ground with further work to ensure areas of significant and specific ESL need are addressed. Appended are: (1) Visa Sub-Classes Eligible to Receive Commonwealth ESL-NA Program Funding; (2) Visa Sub-Classes Ineligible to Receive Commonwealth ESL-NA Program Funding; (3) SA Typical and Agreed Patterns of Entry and Exit Scales: DECS--ESL Scales; and (4) Survey Instrument. (Contains 19 tables, 9 figures and 63 footnotes.)