Students across WA are back at school, and the state’s politicians have recognised the timing is right to push out their education election promises worth billions of dollars.
Students across WA are back at school, and the state’s politicians have recognised the timing is right to push out their education election promises worth billions of dollars.
“Evaporative air conditioners are noisy, inefficient and in far too many schools, are over 20 years old. Our members have told us they’ve literally had crayons and glue sticks melting in their classrooms,” he said.
Separately, $745 million was announced for other school infrastructure redevelopments, including a $286 million increase to the School Infrastructure Fund for major upgrades to older schools and $287 million to build five new schools and plans for six more.
A further $89 million has been promised for a new round of student assistance payments.
But perhaps their most notable announcement has been plans to spend nearly $50 million on making kindergarten not only free, but full-time.
Drum said it was something “a bit different” and could be popular for voters, particularly parents, when heading to the polls.
But the proposal has turned heads from those concerned about young children being placed in full-time education a year earlier.
Questions about why the plan won’t start until 2027, and why it would only be at 10 schools, have also been raised.
Murdoch University early childhood education and care director and senior lecturer Sandra Hesterman said there had been an ongoing erosion of play-based learning in early childhood education at schools.
She said the best way to fix it was to introduce “non-compulsory early childhood education options” with a focus on play rather than classroom learning.
“A government-led WA Play Strategy (would) establish mandates to … protect against the growing emphasis on standardised testing and rigid academic-focused practices that diminish time for play opportunities,” Hesterman said.
Liberals to ‘address holes in the system’
Naturally, the Liberals are on the attack, stating if elected they would be addressing “holes” left in the education system by the current Labor government.
They have made 14 commitments worth $210 million total – including $127 million on school infrastructure upgrades.
This includes $27.5 million to rebuild Karrinyup Primary School and $15.6 million for the expansion of Applecross Senior High School.
Education Minister Tony Buti has fired back at those plans.
“The Liberal party may have promised something there, but they’ve done no planning so they don’t really know what’s needed,” he said of the Applecross SHS announcement.
Under the Liberals’ plan, YouthCARE would also receive $600,000 to expand its principal chaplaincy program to the Pilbara and the Kimberley – a program Labor intended to terminate at the end of 2024, before backpedalling and providing a short-term funding extension.
Its chief executive Tamsyn Cullingford has now called on Premier Roger Cook to match the Liberals’ commitment.
“Principals can now be considered as a type of first responder, and first responders have pastoral care services to assist them to unpack and deal with work-related trauma,” she said.
“Substantive funding has not increased since 2017 – we need a long-term strategy and consistent investment over a longer period of time, not a band-aid solution.”
Greens promise big
Although Labor has far exceeded any other party in the number of education commitments made (and commitments made overall), it is the Greens that have promised the most.
In fact, the two election-related promises they have announced are the highest so far – $1.6 billion for free school lunches ($400 million a year over four years) and $343.8 million in other education commitments.
From the latter, $230 million would go to the state education budget to “fully fund” schools immediately.
WA Greens education spokeswoman Diane Evers said while the Labor government had recently signed an agreement with the federal government to fully fund public schools, it would not take effect until 2034.
Evers said WA had recorded six years of budget surpluses and the state government should put in the money now, rather than waiting nine years for the federal government’s share to increase.
“Education is our future, and it is important to invest in,” she said.
“Yet more than a decade after the Gonski review was delivered outlining the bare minimum our schools need, [the government] still cannot fully fund public education in WA properly.”
She said she believed education would be a key issue for parents this election, and that most politicians realised that given the bulk of education announcements had been made the week school returned for the year.
“Parents were already thinking about the issues being discussed and about the situation their child is in,” Evers said.
“Are they in an overcrowded school, are they in a class filled with 32 students rather than the maximum of 24 we have proposed?
“We can push for changes. Teaching is an admirable career and teachers must be given the respect and resources required for such an important role in our society.”
Nationals focus on booming South West school
The Nationals have made just two education commitments and only one has costing attached. Warren-Blackwood candidate Bevan Eatts announced $45 million in August for the expansion of Margaret River Senior High School.
He described the project as “long overdue”, stating the school had capacity for 700 students but now enrolled almost 1200.
“[It] is rapidly growing, leading to overcrowding, placing pressure on staff and facilities, and putting educational outcomes at risk,” Eatts said
Party leader Shane Love has also said if elected he would convert all existing regional school bus contracts to evergreen contracts and expand student eligibility from 4.5 kilometres to 2.5 kilometres from the school.
Nationals WA candidate for the Central Wheatbelt, Lachlan Hunter, said the reliability of regional school buses had been jeopardised due to awarding contracts to “the lowest bidder”.
“While billions are poured into Perth’s public transport, Central Wheatbelt families are left to navigate costly and impractical systems,” he said.
BusWA General Manager John Ditchburn endorsed the Nationals’ approach, highlighting the policy’s support of regional operators and families.
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