A Minns Labor Government will end the historic underfunding of public schools by creating a $400 million Education Future Fund, as well as establishing a permanent and ongoing Literacy and Numeracy tutoring program.
This fund will ensure all public schools receive the funding they need to deliver improved student outcomes and end chronic teacher shortages.
Literacy and Numeracy tutoring program
Labor will establish an ongoing, targeted Literacy and Numeracy tutoring program beginning on 1 July 2023.
The program will operate in both primary and high schools, with a particular focus on this year’s Year 10 grade, a cohort that has spent its whole schooling life under the Liberal-National Government and last year recorded some of the worst NAPLAN outcomes in the state’s history.
In the 2022 NAPLAN results, more than 12,700 failed to meet the minimum grammar and punctuation standards, the worst performance in the state’s history, and more than 13,800 Year 9 students failed the minimum writing standards.
This grade, now starting Year 10, were affected by COVID Lockdowns and are on the verge of entering into the HSC years or going into the workforce.
A Grattan Institute report just released has also identified that small-group tuition can add an extra four months of learning, on average, over a year, and that if one in five students received high-quality small-group tuition in 2023, they could collectively earn an extra $6 billion over their lifetimes.
Additionally, the Productivity Commission’s report on school funding stated that analysis of studies of small-group tuition identifies that small-group tuition can improve learning outcomes in reading by up to 4 months, and mathematics outcomes by up to 3 months.
The NSW Government’s COVID Intensive Learning Support Program (ILSP) has an uncertain future, without dedicated funding in the long term from the NSW Liberal-National Government.
Labor’s plan would ensure intensive tutoring within NSW public schools will become permanent. Teachers employed in the current ILSP can be extended to work in the permanent tutoring program.
Education Future Fund
The Education Future Fund, will be used to make investments in more teachers, school counsellors and to establish a permanent literacy and numeracy tutoring program that will use highly trained teachers to provide intensive support to the children who need help the most.
Labor’s commitment will ensure that New South Wales reaches 75 per cent of its Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) by 2025 - two years earlier than the Liberal-National Government.
This would take New South Wales Schools funding to 95 per cent of the SRS.
But Labor is committed to fully funding our schools. It’s why we’ll also ensure that New South Wales public schools finally reach 100 per cent of the established funding benchmark, the SRS.
A Minns Labor Government would implement this during the life of the next National School Reform Agreement.
In contrast, under the NSW Liberal-National Government, schools will be permanently underfunded, with a locked-in 5 per cent funding shortfall.
SRS funding ensures more teachers in New South Wales, better education and learning outcomes and better support services for disadvantaged kids.
A report released by the McKell Institute in December 2022 showed that NSW public school students are not getting the investment they need.
The report also confirmed that New South Wales is going backwards when it comes to education outcomes.
A fresh start for NSW Education
There’s a clear choice at the next election when it comes to education in New South Wales.
More of the same chronic teacher shortages, underfunding of schools and under delivering of school infrastructure under Dominic Perrottet and the Liberals.
Or Labor’s plan for a fresh start in education, which includes:
- Ending the underfunding of NSW public schools;
- Creating a permanent, intensive small-group tutoring program to fix the decline of literacy and numeracy results;
- Converting 10,000 temporary teachers to permanent positions to reduce the reliance on temporary teachers;
- Cutting admin hours for teachers by 5 hours per week;
- Banning the use of mobile phones in all NSW public schools to reduce distraction, cyberbullying and improve education outcomes;
- Ending the failed overseas recruitment program and redirecting resources towards recruiting NSW teaching students into schools;
- Expanding co-ed school access for all families so every parent has the choice of where to send their children; and
- Labor’s ‘Growth Areas Schools Plan’ which will deliver new and upgraded schools in growing areas across New South Wales.
NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns said:
“My father was a primary school teacher for 45 years. He is really passionate about the vocation and about teaching the next generation of kids.”
“Everywhere I go I hear of children falling behind at school, due to cancelled classes and falling outcomes.
“This Government has had 12 years to turn education around in this state and they’ve failed.”
“Under Labor, schools will be fully funded, we’ll have more teachers in classrooms, kids off their devices and focusing on their learning.”
“I’m determined to end the war on teachers and attract and keep them.”
“Our future depends on it”.
NSW Deputy Labor Leader Prue Car said:
“Only Labor can be trusted to invest in our state’s future, ensuring every child in every school can reach their full potential.
“The Coalition cannot fix the teacher shortages because it will maintain the wages cap, the unsustainable workloads and the underfunding of public schools that have contributed so much to the shortages.
“For 12 years the Coalition Government has under-resourced our public schools and denied children the opportunities they deserve. Labor will fix this by fully funding public schools in NSW.”
