Thursday, 10 December 2020

Tutor learning initiative funding

Mr D O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (17:30): (5359) You are going to have to read that to me again, Frank. I missed it the first time round.

My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek from the minister is for him to reverse the decision that he has taken with respect to funding for schools for extra tutors next year. I have been contacted by one school in my electorate—and I will not say which one it is because I have not had the opportunity to alert them to the fact that I would be doing this publicly as yet—and it had been told that it would receive $125 000 in tutor funding for 2021, for which it was very grateful. However, it subsequently discovered that because that school’s budget was in surplus it would in fact not be receiving that much. The effect of this decision is that it will lose over $32 000 from its budget surplus for the year. Given the timing of the arrangements, this school had already planned to use that money for next year’s budget in other ways.

Now, the minister did answer this to me in a question in the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee last week, where he said some $30 million of the $250 million may come from surpluses, but at the time I must say I did not fully appreciate what that meant. I think this is very unfair. I think it sends a very bad signal to our schools, the ones particularly that have managed their budgets well, that they are then ultimately penalised and therefore their students are penalised by this decision. So I ask the minister to ensure that schools that have managed their budgets well for the advantage of their schools and their students are not penalised, and I ask him to do so as quickly as possible so the school is aware going into the next year.

Could I also, on indulgence, Speaker, wish you a merry Christmas. Thank you for all the work that you have done. And indeed I extend my thanks as well to all members of the Parliament staff, who have done a great job in difficult circumstances. And I wish everyone a happy Christmas and a merry new year.

The SPEAKER: Thank you.