AS WIMMERA students head back to school this week, many families will struggle to meet rising school costs.
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Changes to the Education Maintenance Allowance for low-income families will see many students miss out on funding.
It will no longer be distributed to low-income families. Only schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged students will receive funding.
The support was provided to help families with school fees, books and camps.
Under the new scheme, families at Nhill College will no longer receive support.
College principal Joanna Day labelled the changes as unfair.
‘‘Any school that falls below the average in terms of socio-economic disadvantage will not receive any funding at all – which is Nhill College,’’ she said.
‘‘It seems very inequitable because every school has families who need help.
‘‘I would like to see the government reconsider this decision.’’
Dr Day said Wimmera principals had discussed the effects of the changes several times.
‘‘Changes to the Education Maintenance Allowance is of great concern to lots of schools,’’ she said.
‘‘All principals agreed it would affect the ability of families to pay for items such as books, uniforms and stationery.
‘‘It will also affect school camps and excursions, which many families struggle to pay for.
‘‘Many schools heavily subsidise camps and excursions and many schools help individual families to cover these costs.’’
Dr Day said principals and school staff wanted to support students and help them participate in normal school activities as much as possible.
‘‘The difficulty is that schools don’t have the money to pay for these either, so it is a struggle all round,’’ she said.
Horsham West and Haven Primary School principal Brendan Bush said in 2014, some families at the school shared $26,000 in financial assistance through the allowance.
Like Nhill College, the primary school will receive no funding in 2015.
‘‘I applaud the idea of giving more money to disadvantaged schools, but this system creates an inequitable situation where disadvantaged families will gain financial support in one school, but not the next,’’ he said
Dr Day encouraged any family who was having trouble with back-to-school costs to speak to their school.
‘‘Most schools have the ability for flexible payments and payment plans for fees or camps,’’ she said.
Children’s charity The Smith Family estimates the cost of sending a child to a public primary school is more than $2000 a year, excluding camps and excursions.
Chief executive Lisa O’Brien said before school started, the average parent was also spending about $700 on uniforms, shoes and stationery.
‘‘Once in the gate, and depending on whether your child goes to primary or high school, parents encounter a whole new raft of expenses,’’ she said.