Illawarra schools have been left high and dry after yesterday's NSW budget announcements, say Teachers Federation representatives, with only one school in the region making the funding list.
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Stanwell Park Public School has been allocated $119,000 out of the 2022/23 budget towards a facilities upgrade.
Deputy President Henry Rajendra said the lack of funding for Illawarra schools was highly disappointing, considering the area's high population growth.
"Governments cannot ignore that over the next 20 years, student enrolment growth will be in the order of 25 per cent," Mr Rajendra said.
"The Illawarra region clearly would be absorbing much of this growth," he said.
While the federation recognises the government has lifted capital funding for public schools, it comes after years of neglect, evident across the Illawarra, Mr Rajendra said
"Whilst we have inadequate funding, hundreds of millions of dollars have been given to often overfunded private schools."
He said the priority of the government should be in public school provision.
Shellharbour MP Anna Watson, who has been campaigning for a school in West Dapto for years, said the lack of funding was another slap in the face to local residents.
In 2015 and 2019, Labor promised a school in West Dapto if elected.
"The one primary school in Dapto is 420 children over capacity, and it's one of the fastest-growing areas in NSW," Ms Watson said.
"I think parents and carers and foster mums and dads ought to be absolutely gutted, once again," she said.
The Horsley to Kembla Grange area had a population growth rate of 9.1 per cent between 2020 and 2021, making it the sixth fastest growing area in the state, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Albion Park to Macquarie Pass wasn't far behind in eighth place, with eight per cent population growth between 2020 and 2021.
"The fact that we got nothing for schools is a sign of how the government feels about the Shellharbour area," Ms Watson said.
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