Wagga's seven Catholic schools are bucking the national trend as their enrolments have increased despite reporting falls for a second year in a row.
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Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Catholic school enrolments across Australia again dropped by almost 1000 students last year, while Independent enrolments grew and government schools recorded an upward trend.
However based on current enrolment figures from the Catholic Diocese of Wagga and the 2017 data that is publicly available on the MySchool website, Wagga schools have collectively experienced an increase of 321 students.
Catholic Education Diocese of Wagga's director of schools Mark McLean said feedback from principals in the city has shown that interest in enrolments remains high and schools are already operating waiting lists for student enrolments in 2020.
"Families consistently tell us that our pastoral care and well-being focus and our commitment to continuous individual academic growth are some of the main reasons that they choose to send their children to Catholic schools in Wagga and this is reflected in our latest enrolment figures," Mr McLean said.
"Our schools offer a holistic approach to education; intellectually, spiritually, physically, morally and emotionally.
"We have talented and committed staff who encourage and guide our students in building quality relationships, fostering resilience and caring for others."
According to data from MySchools website and the NSW Department of Education, about 55 per cent of government schools in Wagga have seen an increase in enrolments from 2017 to 2018.
Kooringal High School was the only secondary school which saw an increase, from 912 students in 2017 to 950 students in 2018.
Ashmont, Kooringal, South Wagga, Sturt and Wagga were the five public schools, which also saw an increase in student numbers, with Sturt Public School increasing the most by 10 students.
NSW Teachers Federation councillor and Wagga teacher Cameron Abood said if the public school system is seeing an increase in enrolments, then funding needs to represent this.
"Where students are, should be where the resources are," Mr Abood said.
"Our philosophy is that every student needs access to quality education and every public school offers great learning opportunities catering for their individual students.
"From a federation perspective, we are exploring the needs-based funding system and it is spread overall to schools where the students need the funding to be able to provide the resources for the students that attend their schools."
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