Labor is for Education
Labor has always stood for fairer, more accessible and higher quality education. A good education is the best creator of opportunity in our society.
But Australian students are falling behind the rest of the world. While we already have great schools and teachers in Australia, we need to do better.
Labor's National Plan for School Improvement will deliver change and extra resources to every school in the country.
As part of the plan, we want to put Australia back in the top five schooling nations in the world for reading, science, maths by 2025. To do this we have to ensure that every school is supported to reach their full potential.
Under the plan, teaching quality will be lifted, principals will have more power to make decisions about their school and more information will be made available for parents through My School. Schools with students who need extra support to lift their results will be entitled to extra funding based on six categories: kids from low income families, Indigenous students, students with disability, kids with limited English skills, the size of the school, and those who attend rural and remote schools.
Labor is helping schools provide access to new computer and technology equipment for secondary students in Years 9 to 12. A one-to-one computer-to-student ratio has been achieved nationally in Australian schools with students in Years 9 to 12.
Labor has thrown open the doors of Australia’s universities, with 190,000 more Australians now attending university. This means, for the first time, any Australian with the ability and the commitment will be able to attend university.
An ambitious target has been set by Labor that by 2025, 40 per cent of all 25-to-34-year-olds will hold a bachelor's degree or above, and 20 per cent of undergraduate enrolments will be disadvantaged students from low socio-economic backgrounds. We're well on our way to achieving both.
Labor is investing a record $9 billion over the next four years in skills and training like TAFE in the face of savage cuts by Liberal state governments, because quality education and training is the key to a better job, a better career and a better pay packet.