New Education Achievement

Investing in Education

Education is the number one priority of the Brumby Government. We are ensuring all Victorian children receive a quality education to get the start in life they need.

There are now more than 7,300 extra teachers and support staff in our schools than there were in 1999.

Since 1999, 57 new and replacement schools have been built or funded. More than a quarter of schools have received funding for major building works.
"$300 School Start Bonus, to be paid to the parents of every child starting Prep and Year 7 at every school in Victoria"
Our investment in quality education for all children means our schools now have smaller class sizes. In primary schools class sizes are the smallest they have been in more than 30 years. Prep to Year 2 average class sizes are down to 20.8, from 24.3 in 1999.

More students are completing Year 12 or its training equivalent. The proportion of young people completing Year 12 or its equivalent rose to 85 per cent in 2005 (up from 82.9 per cent in 1999), higher than the national average of 82.7 per cent.

Assisting Parents

We have introduced new commonsense student reports with a reporting scale of A to E and introduced a new curriculum that enables a child’s progress in every subject to be compared against a state-wide standard. We have reviewed the Education Act to guarantee free education at a government school or TAFE to the end of Year 12, raise the minimum school leaving age to 16 and give parents and students access to information about school performance.

The 2006-07 State Budget provided for a new $300 School Start Bonus, to be paid to the parents of every child starting Prep and Year 7 at every school in Victoria.

The Government has also increased the payment to low income families to assist with the cost of schooling and indexed it for the first time. The Education Maintenance Allowance in 2006 is $205 for primary students (up from $127 in 2004) and $410 for secondary students (up from $254 in 2004), benefiting over 200,000 children. We have also employed welfare officers in 450 primary schools.

Broadband for every government school

In 2005, the Government announced an $89 million high speed, fibre optic broadband upgrade for every Government school in Victoria – an Australian first. We have also recognised the important contribution Catholic and independent schools make to education in Victoria through an additional investment of $300 million since 1999. We have introduced the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning which gives a vocational focus to secondary students’ education.
"We are now committed to modernise over 350 Victorian Schools"
The Government’s major skills strategy: Maintaining the Advantage, provides $80 million for new Technical Education Centres (TECs) and TAFE equipment. A new $500 ‘Trades Bonus’ will help combat a high first-year apprenticeship drop-out rate and we are upgrading tech wings in all Government secondary schools.

We have boosted investment in Victoria’s TAFE system by more than $450 million since 1999. Total vocational educational and training activity has increased by 21 per cent since the Labor came to office.

We are now committed to modernise over 350 Victorian Schools, build 20 new schools in growth areas and rebuild 40 small rural schools. The Brumby Government will also be establishing trade wings in every Victorian government secondary school.