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| CENTRE EDUCATION PROGRAMME: funding |
Like many alternative learning settings,
Centre Ed relies on a variety of sources to fund the programme. A large
chunk of support comes through per-capita funding allocated to
non-State schools through the State and Federal Governments. This
amount of funding provided is measured by a census of student
enrolments in February and again in August each year. This system,
although quite legitimate in theory, poses a few dilemmas for the
Centre. One, to be eligible for per-capita funding a student must have
attended the programme for the ten consecutive days leading up to the
audit – which, with the rather turbulent lives of many of the students
enrolled at the Centre, can often prove to be quite testing. The
second, the initial audit takes place very early in the ‘school’ year,
well before many of the mainstream referrals have been passed on to the
Centre, therefore numbers at this stage are not entirely conclusive of
the year ahead. Additional per-capita funding is provided from the
State and Federal Government for Indigenous enrolments and is subject
to the same criteria.
 The
system of Government funding is common knowledge to the students and
all have a firm grasp of where the finance to support their education
at the Centre comes from. This reinforces the Centre’s need to convey
that a student must own their place. Conversations, always delivered in
a friendly, somewhat casual tone about the importance of attendance
appear to strike a chord with the majority of students and impressive
records of attendance mirrors this.
"It
is really important that you own your place. To be part of the Centre
it is very important that you physically own your place by showing up."
- Dale Murray to the Morning Meeting Assembly |
Other pots of funding come via a Christian Brothers levy borne from
brother catholic schools within the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers
Ministry, who reiterate their support with financial contributions.
Small buckets of one-off funding through DEST, Education Queensland and
other bodies is also granted for ‘projects’ such as curriculum
development, transition pathways and re-engagements programmes which
help to keep the Centre afloat.
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