SECONDARY school students in the Wimmera will no longer need to pay for expensive textbooks if the Coalition is elected at next month’s state election.
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Member for Lowan Emma Kealy announced this week that a Coalition government would introduce a Free School Books for Students program to help families pay for textbooks to ease financial pressure.
If implemented, the program could mean a family with two secondary students could save up to $1000 each year.
Ms Kealy said it would help families save around $476 per year per child, or up to $2,856 during a student’s time at secondary school.
“Families are already under a lot of pressure from increases in essential day to day living costs like groceries, petrol, electricity and gas,” she said.
“Unfortunately Daniel Andrews has not kept his word on no new taxes under Labor and we have seen 12 new or increased taxes since he was elected, with taxes up by 35 per cent.
“With the added costs of Christmas, a lot of families are doing it tough when the time comes to buy text books for the school year ahead and we want to alleviate some of this pressure so that no student is disadvantaged.
“That’s why an elected Nationals Government will help provide support and cost of living relief for families with school children.”
The Free School Books for Students program would provide funding to government schools to purchase textbooks for students.
Students would be required to keep and return the books in a good condition at the end of the semester or year. Although the initial policy would primarily apply to hard copy books, the department would also work with schools that use textbooks digitally.
The Free School Books for Students program would start in 2020 for students in years 7 to 9, and 2021 for year 10 to 12 students.
The policy would not be capped on the number of students per family or be means tested.