p style=”text-align: justify”>Minister for School Education Peter Garrett and Member for Ballarat Catherine King today visited local schools to discuss the Gillard Government’s National Plan for School Improvement with teachers, principals, parents and students.
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Minister for School Education Peter Garrett and Member for Ballarat Catherine King today visited local schools to discuss the Gillard Government’s National Plan for School Improvement with teachers, principals, parents and students.
“The Gillard Government has a plan for better schools that will benefit every school and every student in Ballarat, across Victoria and in Australia,” Mr Garrett said.
“Labor has a plan for properly resourcing all our classrooms, teachers and kids for generations to come, which is why the Prime Minister has committed to invest $2 for every $1 state and territory governments contributes.
“This will deliver an extra $14.5 billion for Australian schools over the next six years.
“Premier Napthine needs to follow the lead of NSW and sign up to our plan.
“Victorian schools could benefit from around $4 billion over six years – that’s an average of $1.5 million across every school and $4000 for every student in the country.
“The Gillard Government’s offer to state and territory governments represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to direct money where it’s needed and lift the resourcing and standards of every school.
“If the current system introduced by the Howard Government continues, schools across Australia will be worse off by around $5.4 billion over the coming years, as indexation rates fall due to lower state spending and current National Partnerships expire.
“This means Victoria would lose over $1.2 billion over the coming years if we keep the current approach to school funding – the equivalent of around $572,000 per school and $1,489 per student.
Mrs King said today’s visits, to Sebastopol College and Canadian Lead Primary School, highlighted the importance of supporting the National Plan for School Improvement.
“Local schools in Ballarat will benefit enormously from these reforms and I encourage Premier Napthine to put our kids first and sign up to the plan,” Ms King said.
“Parents, students, teachers, and principals are counting on the Victorian Government to adopt a fairer funding model that will ensure every school is a great school.
“The school funding reforms and the National Plan for School Improvement are central to make Australian schools among the best in the world.
Mr Garrett said under Labor’s National Plan for School Improvement, there will be extra funding for schools and students who need more support, and unlike the current system, this funding will be permanent.
Mrs King said schools across the Ballarat electorate were already benefitting from Labor’s record investment in schools.
“We’ve invested more than $115 million for 168 new projects under the Building the Education Revolution program, including the building or upgrading of 36 classrooms, 23 libraries, 22 new multipurpose halls and one language centre,” Mrs King said.
“More than 6,900 computers have been installed across my electorate so that every student in years 9-12 now has access to a computer and 18 schools are benefitting from extra funding and resources under our Smarter Schools National Partnerships.
“The next step is to make sure every school in the region is getting enough money to do a great job, and that’s what our National Plan for School Improvement will help deliver.”
For more information about the Gillard Government’s National Plan for School Improvement visit www.betterschools.gov.au