Gonski Bear greets Mr Wilkie
Denison MP Andrew Wilkie was told yesterday of the urgent need for the Gonski Review into school funding to be implemented, without delay.
Glenorchy Primary School Association Chair Mrs Jenny Gordon hosted a school visit for Mr Wilkie to talk about the need for increased funding.
The visit was also the launch of the AEU’s character Gonski Bear who will be out and about campaigning for the implementation of Gonski over the coming weeks.
Mrs Gordon said Glenorchy Primary had achieved amazing results in areas including literacy and numeracy as part of National Partnership funding which proved that investment in education worked.
“To cement the gains this school has made we need the Gonski funding now – the federal Government needs to ‘embrace Gonski now, delay would be ‘unbearable!’” said Mrs Gordon.
The independent Gonski Review found that public schools were critically underfunded and recommended an additional $3.8 billion for public schools – in Tasmania that would mean around an additional $90 million each year for the state’s public schools.
Wendy Burrows, Principal of Glenorchy Primary, said the additional funding delivered through the National Partnership initiative had enabled them to make great strides in learning outcomes.
“With funding secured under Gonski, we know we can continue to make a difference in education outcomes for every single child,” said Ms Burrows.
“For our school Gonski funding would bring in an additional half-a-million dollars. This means we can continue to provide targeted teaching for literacy and numeracy, individualised programs for students with additional needs and initiatives to ensure that children at our school receive the highest quality education.”
The AEU Tasmanian Branch is part of a national campaign urging the Government to draft legislation to implement the findings of Gonski by the end of August.
