Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Education and Training
Another day, another lazy Labor attack, with no real plan and no clear vision on how to fund it.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to inclusive, affordable and equitable access to education.
Our priority is to continue putting more resources into our schools to ensure Tasmanian students receive the best possible education and support while learning.
The Department of Education provides a range of assistance programs for students from low income families in order to minimise disadvantage in access to education services. The major program, administered by DoE, is the Student Assistance Scheme (STAS).
STAS provides levies exemption for eligible families. As of 22 February 2019, there were 20,250 Tasmanian Government School students eligible for STAS. This represents approximately 36 per cent of all Tasmanian Government School students.
The Government received an update on the Levies and Charges Review late last year. Phase one of the School Levies and Charges Review is complete and the policy for 2020 has been updated.
A number of additional recommendations are currently under consideration through Phase 2 of the Review. This consultation phase is aimed at working out how to best support schools to implement the policy requirement to have an all-inclusive levy that includes required per-subject costs.
Information regarding implementation of further recommendations is expected to be available in coming months, once all stakeholders and school communities have been further consulted.
