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The state government has announced a further $37.8 million to improve outcomes for regional students.
These include:
- $13.2 million to enable rural and regional students to attend VCE revision lectures in Melbourne.
- $7.8 million to expand professional development for teachers and leaders in rural and regional areas
- $5.1 million to support rural and regional schools to work in clusters to strengthen curriculum delivery
- $3.7 million for outreach and virtual programs - such as the John Monash Science School Rural Exchange Program - for regional and rural schools
- $3.7 million to abolish the enrolment fees for Virtual School Victoria for all Victorian students, saving around 4,400 parents $160 for the cost of their children accessing virtual learning
- $2.5 million to increase access to mentoring, role models and information about post-school pathways
- $1.4 million for Victoria's Tech Schools to host and offer STEM programs for regional and rural students
Education Minister James Merlino said there would be a further $59.9 million to double internet speeds at government schools across Victoria.
He said the announcements were the first step in addressing the Expert Advisory Panel into Rural and Regional Students' recommendations.
The panel's report also recommends increasing access to support staff, in particular paediatricians and speech therapists, and the delivery of virtual support services.
Previously:
WIMMERA leaders and education providers have responded to what we know about the state government's education review so far.
The state government announced on Wednesday that teachers would be offered up to $50,000 to relocate to regional and rural areas under a new plan.
In all $12.5 million of a $45.2 million total investment will be offered to both primary and secondary teachers to move to country centres that are traditionally hard-to-staff, usually small, rural communities, but sometimes also in specialist roles such as science and mathematics in larger towns.
It also includes assistance with housing, plus a retention payment of up to $9000 a year for three years if the teacher remains in their role.
A further $12.8 million will be offered to secure teachers who specialise in VET and VCAL to give access to more apprenticeships and traineeships while a further $3.7 million will help abolish enrolment fees for Virtual School Victoria, saving around 4400 parents $160 fees for the cost of their children accessing virtual learning.
Premier Daniel Andrews is due to release the plan in its entirety at 12noon on Thursday.
Stawell Secondary College principal Carlos Lopez said providing compensation for regional teachers was "long overdue".
"The main struggles young teachers had under the old scheme was that they had no support for relocation," he said.
"There are challenges with education, as well as the social aspect of moving to a regional area. I think money would definitely attract more teachers; it's a pity that there hasn't been something like this before.
"Having incentives for young, educated people to stay in regional areas will help revitalise dwindling populations."
Mr Lopez was Horsham College's assistant principal for six years and has also worked at one of Victoria's smallest secondary schools, Murrayville Community College.
He said the many positives of working in regional areas outweighed the negatives.
"There are lots of challenges for teachers in rural schools, but for graduates or early career teachers there are lots of benefits too," he said.
"There are more leadership and skill developing opportunities and the competition isn't as cut-throat as metropolitan schools."
Mr Lopez said he would also like to see more financial support for regional and rural teachers to receive professional development.
Halls Gap Primary School principal Ja-San Trimble said the school struggled to get teachers.
"When we advertise positions, we're not inundated with applications. When we do, it's mostly graduates. Experienced teachers aren't interested in moving around," she said.
"I can see how the incentive of money might attract some experienced teachers to regional areas, but I would also be wary that people would just take up positions for the money.
"I don't think the monetary incentive for housing will be much help in a small town like Halls Gap where there's hardly any rentals."
Mrs Trimble said the school had four teachers, including herself. The three other teachers are all graduates.
"Juggling my role as a teacher, principal and mentor for them can be tricky. In a small school you have to do a bit of everything; it's fantastic experience because they're thrown into the deep end," she said.
"You do need experienced teachers to provide the support and mentorship for younger teachers. Two of our teachers are locals who have come back to the region after studying, so we rely on locals to come back."
Halls Gap Primary School classroom teacher Karina Wilkinson grew up in Halls Gap and attended the school.
After studying in Geelong, she moved to Shepparton then Stawell before securing her first teaching job at Halls Gap Primary School.
She said she loved the feel of a small school.
"You get to know the families and have that connections with them forever. You also get to do a bit of everything in a small school and are given more leadership opportunities," she said.
She said she would have considered taking up the incentive herself if she wasn't already employed.
"Hopefully it will bring people out to regional areas and see what happens in a rural school," she said.
Goroke P-12 principal Dee Kearsley said she hoped the incentive would help attract graduate teachers to the school.
"It can be really hard for graduate teachers to move to regional areas and pay for their board and living expenses," she said.
"School facilities in regional centres are amazing. If young teachers were to come here and have a look around, they would see how fabulous our schools are."
The school has 20 part-time and full-time teachers, and about 80 students. Mrs Kearsley said a lot of its teachers had moved to Goroke to take up positions at the school.
"Retaining them is the struggle. Graduates mainly want to stay here for a few years and then leave, so having an incentive for them to stay here, even if it's just for three years, is fantastic," she said.
Members of the Wimmera's teaching and advocacy communities say new state government incentives to attract educators into regional Victoria is a good start, but only part of the solution.
Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Partnership chairman David Jochinke said the funding needed to be accompanied by investment in incentives to retain the region's current teacher base.
"It doesn't just have to be money either: It can be things such as making teachers' jobs easier and giving them good support networks," he said.
"Things like having access to good facilities and good resources for students across the state or development opportunities so they can be the best they can."
Mr Jochinke said in rural areas teachers did more than just teach.
"They are part of the community fabric and witness the trials and tribulations students face, whether that be disadvantage or other life circumstances," he said.
"The partnership is closely involved in education in the Wimmera: Some of the work we've done is through the By Five project where we have clusters of schools working on a specific area they need strengthening in, and they've been given the local authority to determine how they want to achieve it.
"Some of their goals are around student wellbeing or reading at home, but it's not coming from the education department, rather we're letting teachers and coordinators address the issues and criteria they see."
Wimmera Development Association executive director Chris Sounness welcomed the announcement, saying it was up to his organisation and Wimmera communities to create the environments in which teachers would want to stay.
"To use a metaphor coming from my agricultural background, I see this sort of program as providing the seed, but we've got to make sure the rural communities are ready for it to be planted there," he said.
"We work with councils to put things in place so that when people arrive here think it's a great place to live: housing, facilities, making sure there are jobs for partners, all those sorts of things."
Rosemary Lloyd, middle school humanities teacher at Horsham College, moved from Melbourne to the city with her partner David at the start of this year as part of the Teach For Australia program.
As part of the program, Ms Lloyd will teach at the school with full salary and benefits while receiving one-on-one mentoring for the next two years. Three other TFA associates joined Horsham College this year, and another Warracknabeal Secondary College.
Ms Lloyd said the offer of extra money would probably be more attractive to established teachers compared to trainees or new graduates.
"What attracted me to the TFA role was the ability to become a teacher through that support and ongoing full-time employment," she said. "So I guess money was a consideration for me too, but in a slightly different way.
"I guess you never really know what you're getting into when you move for work unless you know that town really well, and I didn't know Horsham at all.
"I think you do need to encourage people studying teaching to take that leap, because when you're in Melbourne you might not think about the ways in which it's easier living regionally and the options available to you."
Ms Lloyd said she had found the community welcoming in the nine months she had been in the city. She also welcomed the non-financial support to assist with relocation, such as help with finding housing, also announced as part of the state government package.
"Doing that three-hour commute regularly to view houses was a bit of a challenge for me," she said.
"I've found the students here have been teaching me about the community and where to go on holiday. Because being here is so different to my own life experience it's a way I've been able to bond with them."
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