Victorian Government to Improve Educational Opportunities for Regional Students

June 2010

As part of its plan to attract more people to regional Victoria, the Victorian Government has announced that it will provide $103.6 million to improve educational opportunities outside of Melbourne.

The package includes:

• $75 million to establish a Tertiary Education Infrastructure Fund which will provide infrastructure for regional TAFE and university campuses, including the construction of additional student accommodation
• $9 million to create Regional Tertiary Education partnerships that will encourage tertiary institutions to provide more tertiary courses in regional areas
• $7.1 million to improve transport between small communities and universities and TAFE campuses
• $12.5 million to support 1500 work-based cadetships for regional students during semester breaks.

The Premier, Mr John Brumby, argued that the initiative was designed to ‘provide more choices for young people to study in regional Victoria’.

The Shadow Minister for Tertiary Education, Mr Peter Hall, claimed that the announcement ‘did not deliver any substantial improvement to higher education opportunities’ because it did not represent a significant increase in real funding and because it failed to address issues around the higher cost of living away from home for regional students.

 

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