There is concern at the axing of numerous English as a second language (ESL) teachers in NSW, which some have said is the first failing of new funding.

Teachers have warned that cuts to specialist support for English language training in New South Wales public schools could leave an entire generation of students from migrant backgrounds marginalised and disconnected.

The NSW Teachers Federation says thirty-two ESL, multicultural and refugee, support positions were slashed last year, and that the effects are evident already.

“It is biting now, particularly in the regional areas where they are more isolated in their communities,” the teachers federation’s multicultural officer Amber Flohm told the ABC.

“They rely on the [NSW Department of Education and Communities] and those support positions to provide them with the specialist expertise that they need to set up a new program and to assist in the engagement of these families and their students in the education system.”

Head of the NSW Public Schools Principals Forum and principal of Smithfield Public School in western Sydney, Cheryl Mcbride, says the new scheme of giving more principal control over school budgets is not helping in this case.

“We have the money and we have the decision but we cannot fulfil the strategy, therefore we cannot achieve excellent learning outcomes for children,” she said, claiming the school could not find an expert.

“ESL is a growing area and we have had very little additional funding put directly into schools to employ additional ESL teachers and now we have taken away their expertise.”

Greens MP John Kaye says it shows the State Government’s plan to pass funds from the Education Department directly to schools can increase their burden and decrease services.

“Schools simply cannot find the resources. They cannot find the professional development, they cannot find the programs that were provided by the department,” he said.

“It is simply not true you can reproduce in a school everything that was done in the department.”

The NSW Department of Education and Communities says there are 896 specialist ESL teaching positions, unchanged from last year despite an annual increase in students from homes where languages other than English are spoken.

A spokesperson for the department has reportedly claimed that it is up to principals to use funding allocations for the best interests of students.

He also said there will be a new equity loading for English language proficiency in next year's funding allocation, based on student and school needs.