A new united national advocacy group that will fight for better education for country children is on the cards.
The group with the proposed name, Australian Rural Education Alliance, is a key outcome of a National Forum on Remote, Rural and Regional Education held in April.
The Foundation for Rural and Regional Australia (FRRR) which organised the forum is pleased with this and other forum outcomes which it detailed in a report released this week.
Included in the Outcomes Report’s 28 recommendations are calls for:
· A new national rural education strategy via a review of the National Framework for Rural and Remote Education
· A review of all government allowances pertaining to education in rural and remote Australia
· A review of eligibility criteria for the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme
· Consistency in all state and territory tuition fee relief for families with no option but to send their children to non-government boarding schools
· Funding for volunteer programs such as Volunteers for Isolated Students Education (VISE) and the Country Education Foundation of Australia which help tutor outback kids
· Financial assistance for families hosting VISE and CEF volunteers
· A review of Centrelink assessment guidelines so they don’t punish rural and remote children awarded scholarships by philanthropic trusts
· More incentives, including HECS debt reductions, for teachers to go to rural and remote areas
· Better promotion and communication of best practices in rural and remote education
· More support for rural educators including a new professional collegiate
· More professional development in IT skills for home tutors
· Greater emphasis on putting rural and remote educational research into action.
FRRR chief executive officer Sylvia Admans said a follow-up roundtable in Adelaide in July brought together national and state education and training providers from remote, rural and regional Australia.
“We are now well on the way to creating a united voice which will fight to ensure children in remote, rural and regional areas get improved access to quality education and training,” Ms Admans said.
“Its job will be to push the take-up of these recommendations across the nation.
“We are especially pleased with the response from the Federal Education, Science and Training Minister, Julie Bishop, who has promised to invest $100,000 to disseminate examples of top rural and regional education practices.
“Ms Bishop also assures us the Forum Outcomes Report will inform the Federal Government’s consideration on a number of issues.”
The April forum in Albury brought together parents, teachers, principals, bureaucrats, trainers, tutors, career advisors, education academics and others.
It was prompted by philanthropists and business leaders who donate to the Rural Education Program (REP) of FRRR, to boost educational opportunities for country kids.
REPs chairman Baillieu Myer, said it was now up to the Federal Government to implement the findings and recommendations in the Report for the benefit of nearly 300,000 rural and remote kids, many of whom are not getting a “fair go” at present.
Copies of the National Forum on Remote Rural and Regional Education Outcomes Report are available by phoning 1800 170 020 or (03) 5430 2399 or emailing info@frrr.org.au .
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