“We’ve had countries across the world that have been very successful on their educational path with one provision, and that’s been a public provision. It needs to be debated and discussed.”

However, hours before the program aired, Dizdar appeared to walk back his comments, saying they “were not intended to disrespect the good work of my colleagues in other sectors”.

“I recognise and value the important role the Catholic and independent sectors play in our education system in NSW, now and into the future. I am a passionate champion of the transformational power of public education,” Dizdar said in a statement issued by the education department.

But Catholic Schools NSW’s Dallas McInerney said it was “significant for all the wrong reasons” when the state’s most senior educational official “puts a question mark over the role and future non-government schools”.

“Thankfully, the department does not make policy; it is charged with implementing government policy,” he said.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car said there was an important role for Catholic and independent schools to play, and the three sectors work together in “a collegiate way.”

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“We do respect choice, and there is no change to policy settings. But I would say that Murat is a very strong advocate for public education,” she said.

“We appointed him to do a very big job leading the education department, and we are well on our way to driving down [public school] vacancies.”

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said parents send their children to the school that best suits their values, beliefs and needs.

“Labor’s education secretary wants to take that choice away from families. That’s unacceptable and untenable,” Speakman said.

National Catholic Education Commission executive director Jacinta Collins said Catholic schools “have a 200-year history serving alongside the government sector and catering to some of the most disadvantaged areas in Australia”.

“Each week, we read about the funding wars, the culture wars, the ideological wars, and the reading wars in education. It’s perpetuating a divisive culture focused on battling each other rather than focusing on improvement for all students regardless of sector,” Collins said.

In the ABC program, Dizdar – who has spent more than two decades in the public system as a teacher, principal and in senior official roles – outlined the state’s public education and welcomed NSW’s recent $4.8 billion school funding deal with the Commonwealth.

The principal of inner-west all-girls private school PLC Sydney, Paul Burgis, said it was critical that NSW had a strong public education model.

“Having high-quality independent and Catholic schools also benefits us all. Independent schools often approach education from a completely different perspective and thus offer our state a wide range of models for education,” he said.

“Catholic and independent schools serve the full range of communities in NSW. Parents also appreciate being able to find a school to suit their values and their child’s needs.”

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