Putting Education......last

The Premier made some small announcements for public education.

• Families with children in kindergartens and preschools will receive a $100 rebate
• $78 million over four years for additional Primary Welfare Officers
• $187 million commitment to school buildings

These commitments don’t come close to a future in Victoria that puts Education first!

The $100 rebate to families, which is not means tested, doesn’t begin to address the resourcing needed in our kindergartens and preschools, nor does it help to  attract or retain qualified teachers to deliver high quality education to our kids.

The $78 million commitment to Primary Welfare Officers builds on a previous commitment made in 2010.
And the Premier’s commitment to school buildings falls short against his track record of not delivering on what his party promised before the last election. Many of the new school buildings they have promised should be up and operating now, not in four years time.

Click here to see our Action Plan and whether the Premier’s commitments measure  and while he promised to deliver a policy that would help unemployed young people find jobs he said nothing about how youth unemployment had reached such high levels across the state to begin with. ( Over 20% in Ballarat)

• $75 million fund of business incentives to employ young people aged 15-24

The Premier has failed to acknowledge the damage his government has done to TAFE. More importantly he has failed to address the training and skill needs of our young people that will give them a real opportunity to attain worthwhile employment.

Our last day of gymnastics today

We finished off our student choice literacy units today. One of my grade 6 boys finished his story map for Stig of the Dump today and he did a fantastic job.