No. 79

BUDGET CONTINUES RECORD INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION 

The ACT Government is delivering on its commitment to lift education standards for all Canberrans by injecting extra funding into education. The 2007-08 Budget provides the largest funding allocation to education in the ACT ever.  Funds for government schools will increase to $390.7 million. This compares with funding of just $296.1 million in 2001-02, when the Stanhope Government took office.

Education and Training Minister Andrew Barr said the Government was delivering on its commitment to provide high-quality education for all Canberrans and that funding for non-government schools and vocational education and training was also at record levels, with non-government sector funding increasing by nearly $10 million to $40.5 million and total VET funding growing from $65.3 million in 2001-02 to $84.7 million in 2007-08.

“The Stanhope Government is determined to ensure that every Canberran, regardless of their background, has the chance to reach their full educational potential,” Mr Barr said. “The record funding contained in the 2007-08 Budget ensures we will maintain our current high standards of performance and continue to improve on them.”

In addition to increased levels of recurrent funding, the 2007-08 Budget contains record levels of investment in education infrastructure.  Two new schools, a senior secondary college at Gungahlin and a new preschool-to-year 10 school in Tuggeranong, received combined funding of more than $110 million.

Major education initiatives funded in the 2007-08 Budget include:
•	a doubling of the eligibility for grants in the Secondary Bursary Scheme;
•	$1 million over two years in capital grants to non-government schools to allow them to improve access for students with disabilities;
•	additional funding of $6.2 million over four years to support increasing numbers of young people engaged in apprenticeships and traineeships;
•	$60.7 million for the construction of a new secondary college in Gungahlin;
•	an additional $50 million to fund the construction of a new preschool-to-Year-10 school in Tuggeranong; and
•	a continuation of the $90 million School Infrastructure Renewal program, with $28 million to be spent in 2007-08.
“The Stanhope Government is firmly committed to giving all Canberrans the opportunity to have the best possible start in education or training, and to develop a lifelong love for learning,” Mr Barr concluded.