Last week, staff at St Ignatius Parish School in North Bourke were paid a visit by federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton to officially open some new teacher accommodation installed a couple of years ago.

The $1.25 million project was partially funded by the federal government, contributing $854,700 through its Capital Grants Program, which provides funding for non-government schools to improve capital infrastructure.

Mr Coulton, who visited the school on Monday 19 July, said the two and three-bedroom accommodation provides the school with quality, safe and secure housing to attract teaching staff to Bourke.

“It was great to visit St Ignatius’ Parish School’s new teacher accommodation which will have a positive impact on both teachers and students,” Mr Coulton said.

“St Ignatius’ Parish School has a wonderful school community, and this new teacher accommodation will further enhance teacher accessibility to the school.

“This project is part of the coalition government’s commitment to education, providing record funding for government, Catholic and independent schools and ensuring that every child gets a quality education no matter where they go to school.”

According to St Ignatius Parish School Principal John Cowan, the new teacher housing is part of the incentive package they have to attract teachers to come out to regional areas.

He said the majority of their current teaching staff are recent graduates from university, which can cause issues due to their lack of experience and unwillingness to stay at the school long-term.

"Recruitment is probably the biggest issue the Diocese has - trying to attract new teachers and ones that actually stay here for two or three years is very difficult," Mr Cowan said.

"I myself came out from Parramatta a long time ago, but it can be really hard to bring people over the mountain."

According to Mr Cowan, the teacher accommodation - two two-bedroom houses and two three-bedroom houses - was first funded in 2018 and built in Dubbo and transported to Bourke in 2019.

He said over the past two and a half years, the accommodation has been enjoyed by the teachers who have lived in them and hoped they would be useful in attracting new people when they moved on.

"We're very lucky to have the staff we've got as well as the ability to house them - the teachers in the houses have been really happy with them," he said.

"It is also essential for part of our recruitment process - we're going to have some people leaving in the near future, so this will be an important part of the incentive package to attract new staff.

"I think it was great foresight from the federal government and the Diocese to put these incentives in place - we were very privileged to have (Mark Coulton) and the Bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes to be there to officially open and bless the houses this month."