NSW: Govt to review school sponsorship guidelines

AAP General News (Australia)
08-26-2005
NSW: Govt to review school sponsorship guidelines

By David Crawshaw

SYDNEY, Aug 26 AAP - The NSW government is to review sponsorship guidelines for public
schools after one began openly seeking corporate dollars to make up for dwindling public
funding.

Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt today denied the government was stripping schools
of vital funding, pointing to record spending on education.

Sylvania Heights Public School in Sydney has been selling advertising space to businesses,
including fast-food outlets, and enabling companies to display logos in the school grounds
for $500.

Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson described the sponsorship deal as "inappropriate",
while the NSW opposition said schools were being forced to seek sponsorship because of
poor government funding.

Ms Tebbutt, who will contest a by-election for a lower house seat on September 17,
said guidelines had governed sponsorship of schools since 1991, and it was time to review
them.

"(Sponsorship) has been a long-standing part that school communities play in how they
support their schools," she told reporters.

"When schools are placing sponsorship signs or advertising signs within the school
grounds they're required to have the agreement of the local P&C and that's what Sylvania
Heights has done.

"I have asked the department to have a look at the guidelines, to review the guidelines,
just to make sure that we're clarifying any grey areas."

The NSW government was spending $10.2 billion on education and training this year -
more per student than any other Australian state.

"This school is not strapped for cash; the principal has made that very clear," Ms Tebbutt said.

She said the display of corporate logos was about "acknowledging sponsorship support
- they're not promoting a particular product".

Ms Tebbutt also denied the policy undermined efforts to promote healthy eating, and
said corporate sponsorship of items such as school uniforms was prohibited.

Dr Nelson said it was inappropriate for schools to sell advertising space on school
grounds to businesses, particularly when fast-food companies were involved.

"I think the idea of having signs out the front of the school is really a bit over
the top and particularly when we have a bit of an epidemic of obesity amongst our kids,"

he told the Nine Network.

NSW schools were so desperate for funds they were turning to sponsors because the state
government had frozen schools' capital works budget, Dr Nelson said.

"Basically, we have had a stomach full of it and we are giving each public school $150,000
directly to the P&C to do whatever they think is appropriate," he said.

The NSW opposition said the government was starving schools of money but praised parents
for taking the initiative of seeking sponsorship dollars.

"This sponsorship has been sought because the state government hasn't provided the
core resources for literacy and numeracy," acting opposition education spokesman Brad
Hazzard said.

"It is effectively making school communities go out with a begging bowl just to get books."

AAP dcr/was/bwl

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