Tuesday, 28 May 2024

Schools funding

Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (20:52): (910) The action I seek is from the Minister for Education. In the lead-up to the 2022 state election Labor promised to deliver $850 million in upgrades to at least 89 schools across Victoria. However, in the May state budget the Allan Labor government have failed to fund 29 schools – that is 30 per cent of them – that were promised upgrades in 2022. This government is denying our students the world-class education they deserve in Victoria. Furthermore, early childhood sector supports and regulation have also been cut by $79 million.

I have met with many schools in my electorate whose facilities have been neglected for decades and are becoming unsafe and unfit for student use and are certainly providing a diminished environment for learning. At many of these schools multiple classes have been crammed into the same room or into the gym, which is unfit for learning. In Box Hill students take their lunches in the hallway because there is no open space at all. Camelot Rise Primary School in Glen Waverley has exposed gas pipes – you can smell the toilets from inside the classrooms – and the oval turns into a giant puddle in winter where ducks nest. Schools such as Camelot Rise have been neglected by this government for far too long, and the minister must step in. Schools are struggling to find teachers to fill positions, and absenteeism has risen on an average to 29.2 days per year for students in years 7 to 10. Local principals I have met with have raised concerns with Labor’s school tax hurting their students’ education. One school I have spoken to mentioned that they pay more in schools tax than funding they receive from the government. Meanwhile, the Minister for Education refuses to meet with principals to discuss educational issues. The minister held 25 education-related meetings in the three months between January and March this year – an average of 8.3 a month. Not a single one of those meetings was with a school itself. There is no wonder that the education system is worsening under this government, as the minister only meets with educational bodies and bureaucrats. The minister should instead be meeting with those teachers and principals who interact with students daily.

Cuts to education are letting down our children, who deserve quality education to set them up to succeed. Providing $400 as a one-off payment, which does not apply to the vast majority of students at independent schools, is not enough to make up for years of neglect of education by this government. It is time for the minister to prioritise the needs of our students and schools, not just bureaucratic meetings. The action I seek is for the minister to get out of their bubble and meet with principals, reverse these brutal cuts to education and ensure our students have the best education that they are entitled to.