(Unfortunately, it has not been possible to continue this page beyond September 2000.  However, State Opposition Media Releases and news releases, articles, speeches etc by Robert Clark are continuing, as well as pages on Robert Clark's portfolio areas.  See also our News Links page.)

2000

Opposition announces drugs policy

The Opposition has announced a drug policy including 250 extra police dedicated to combatting drugs, 500 more detoxification and rehabilitation beds, compulsory treatment for overdose victims, obligatory exchange of needles at needle exchanges and a full time student welfare co-ordinator at every government secondary school.  (11 Aug)

Training freeze has excluded new providers

A Government funded report has found that the Labor Government's 12 month freeze on private providers of training had frozen out new and potentially excellent providers seeking to enter the market and had significant negative impacts on the individual business plans of private service providers, according to the Opposition. (12 July)

Community use of school computers after hours

Schools in remote and rural Victoria will open after hours to provide their local communities with access to the Internet under a new $1 million program, access@schools, which is to provide up to $10,000 each to 100 or more schools across Victoria to provide 12,000 Victorians living in rural and remote areas with 60,000 free or affordable hours of access to the Internet over the next 12 months. Schools throughout Victoria are to shortly receive an invitation from the Department of Education, Employment and Training to apply for funding.  The program will be managed by DEET and will be funded by Multimedia Victoria. (18 June)

Schools developing asbestos plans

Schools that have received some of the 195 asbestos affected portable classrooms are now being assisted by the Education Department to develop asbestos risk management and containment plans to nullify any health risks to children and teachers, according to the Opposition. (25 May)

(Unfortunately, news items between 10 March and 9 May have not been included, due to pressure of other commitments.)

Government cuts back on teacher contracts

The Government has announced that it expects to reduce substantially the nearly 20 per cent of government school teachers currently employed on short-term contracts, under an agreement entered into with the Australian Education Union.  The agreement provides that the standard mode of employment will be ongoing except where the position is genuinely of a fixed-term nature (eg; replacing a teacher on leave or declining school enrolments), all vacancies will be open to qualified applicants within and outside the teaching service, existing local selection arrangements will continue, teachers deemed "excess" will continue to be managed at the local level but retrenchment can now be enacted in schools, teachers who have been on contract for more than one year will be offered ongoing employment, except in certain circumstances, and a new one-year probation period will be provided for beginning teachers. (2 Mar)

$35 million public sector apprenticeship program

The Government has announced a $35 million program, the Youth Employment Scheme (YES), to provide more than 2000 traineeships and apprenticeships in the public sector. (2 Mar)

Year 3 reading benchmarks released

The Minister for Education has released Victorian Year 3 students' 1999 reading performance against national benchmarks, which show that 86.2% of Year 3 students were reading at or above the national benchmark.  The Minister said Victoria's results were expected to be below NSW and Western Australia but better than South Australia and Queensland and that more needed to be done to raise struggling students to the benchmark. (22 Feb)

1999

Government back-down on self-governing schools

The Government has agreed to provide transitional funding for the 51 former self-governing schools, honour all legally binding contracts and not reduce student services.  This follows lengthy negotiations  and public protests following the initial announcement that the self-governing school arrangements would end from the start of next year. (14 Dec)

LAP results released

The State Government has released this year's statewide Learning Assessment Project (LAP) results, which were provided to schools in October.  The Government says it will "replace and expand" the LAP. (9 Dec)

School capital funding

The Government has announced that more than 60 schools have been added to the capital works planning program for works totalling almost $60 million, with construction likely to begin within the next two financial years.  Much of the funding has already been announced by the previous Government. (7 Dec)

$50 million for more teachers, staff

The Government says it will provide schools with an extra $50 million next calendar year, consisting of $25.2 million for primary schools to employ an extra 450 teachers, $12.2 million for secondary schools to employ an extra 200 welfare officers, $10 million for students with special learning needs enabling schools to employ up to 200 equivalent full-time support staff, and $2.5 million for shared specialist teachers in small rural schools with enrolments of less than 100. (25 Nov)

Minister agrees to honour self-governing schools contracts

Following pressure from the State Opposition, the Minister for Education has met with council presidents and principals of schools whose self-governing status is being abolished by the new Government, and has agreed to a package of transitional measures including identifying and honouring all binding contracts. (16 Nov)

Government announces $10 million for public TAFE institutes

The Premier has announced that Cabinet has approved an extra $10 million to public TAFE institutes, consisting of an extra $6 million for TAFE budgets for the start of the new year to meet the cost of apprenticeship and traineeship courses and to ensure the continued provision of training courses next year, and almost $4 million to compensate those Institutes with large numbers of students eligible for fee exemptions. (15 Nov)

Government claims TAFE providers in difficulties

The Government has claimed that half of Victoria's major public TAFE providers are reporting serious financial problems and four are on the brink of insolvency, due to alleged neglect and "excessive competition", with the Council of Adult Education also facing "serious financial shortfalls".  The Minister said "Labor has already announced a boost of $14.7 million over four yeas for regional and rural TAFE Institutes". (15 Nov)

Apprenticeship numbers lower under Labor

Tertiary Education and Training Minister Phil Honeywood has labelled Labor’s election promise to create just 15,550 extra apprenticeships over the next four years a sell-out of young Victorians. (9 Sept)

Privatisation of schools an "ALP furphy"

Education Minister Phil Gude has dismissed the ALP’s claim that a Coalition Government would privatise the state’s schools. (7 Sept)

Education Minister attacks inaccurate ALP radio ad

Education Minister Phil Gude has said the ALP radio ad that claims that children would be dumped from Self Governing Schools was misleading and an attempt to scare parents. (3 Sept)

ALP TAFE Policy removes choice

The Minister for Tertiary Education and Training, Phil Honeywood says the ALP policy would remove the right of employers to choose where their apprentices were trained. (27 Aug)

ALP teacher numbers don’t meet class cap promise

Education Minister, Phil Gude, says the number of extra teachers the ALP proposes to engage is only 1/2 the number needed to meet its class size capping promise. (26 Aug)

Youth Employment Initiative continues its success

The first two years of the Government’s Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) have seen almost all of the young people completing their traineeships in both years going on to secure continuing employment. (24 Aug)

18 research scholarships for Gippsland

RMIT is to provide 18 Gippsland-based scholarships to help boost the research and educational capacity of the region. (24 Aug)

Pilot project on commercialising university knowledge

Industry Minister Mark Birrell has announced a pilot program in which three Victorian Universities — Deakin, RMIT and Latrobe — are receive more than $100,000 each to appoint Technology Diffusion Coordinators (TDC) to seek out potential commercial opportunities in knowledge-based industries. (23 Aug)

Parents say government schools are doing a good job

A statewide survey of Victoria’s government schools has found that 87.9% of parents with children at government primary schools and 82.3% of secondary school parents believe schools are doing a good job. (23 Aug)

Finalists for Apprentice of the Year awards

The Minister for Tertiary Education and Training, Phil Honeywood, has announced the finalists for the Victorian Training Awards. (12 Aug)

New voluntary contribution guidelines

Education Minister Phil Gude has released new voluntary contribution guidelines for school councils. (30 July)

Easier access to VCE results

The Board of Studies and Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) will combine their annual results and tertiary entrance information services for the first time this year, providing VCE students with a "one-stop shop" for end of year results. (26 July)

Class sizes continue downward trend

According to 1999 class-size data, the average class-size in Victorian primary schools has fallen from 25.9 students last year to 25.4 this year.

Victoria attracts more foreign tertiary students

The number of overseas students enrolled in Victorian universities increased by 24% in the past year.

IT funding and support for country schools

Government schools in country and regional Victoria will benefit from the introduction of a $104-million Information Technology support package.

Blackburn High School strike unwarranted

A leaked letter from members of the Australian Education Union (AEU) at Blackburn High School claims that union officials coerced members to go on strike and excluded a number of AEU members from taking part in a meeting to determine strike action.

Auditor-General's report on One for Three computer subsidies

The Education Minister, Phil Gude, has responded to criticism of the Government’s One for Three Computer Subsidy program by the Opposition, following the Auditor-General’s report on Ministerial portfolios.

Twelve schools to specialise

The Minister for Education, Phil Gude, has announced that 12 of the State’s 51 self-governing schools are to specialise in areas including the arts, physical education, information technology and science from the start of next year.

Kindergarten attendance and funding

The Minister for Youth and Community Services has provided information on kindergarten attendance levels and funding, in response to recent media reports.

Byzantine heritage goes on display

Victorians will have the opportunity to see examples of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art in a new exhibition at Melbourne’s Hellenic Antiquities Museum.

LOTE resources on the Internet

Different linguistic communities will be able to access the Internet in their own language under a project launched by the Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs, Phil Honeywood.

Self-Governing Schools program expanded

A further 23 schools have been named to take part in the Self-Governing Schools program, bringing the total number of schools involved to 52 and the number of students to about 36,000.

$11.8 million for school maintenance

Victoria’s government schools are to receive a further $11.8 million for maintenance work.

Funding for science and technology research

The State Government will inject $310 million into knowledge and innovation-creation programs.

$396.3m Budget funding for schools

The 1999-2000 Budget provides an extra $396.3 million to schools, taking total recurrent funding to a record $4,354.7 million, up 10% on last year.

$99 million for new and upgraded schools

The State Government has committed almost $99 million to building new schools and improving facilities at existing ones.

$103m Budget funding for TAFEs

The State Government has committed itself to additional funding of $103 million over four years to expand vocational education and training.

$1.7-million upgrade for Box Hill TAFE

The Whitehorse campus of Box Hill Institute of TAFE will receive State Government funding of $1.7 million for a major upgrade of Vocational Education and Training facilities, the Member for Box Hill, Robert Clark, announced today.

Additional $5 million for Victorian Youth Development Program

The Premier, Mr Kennett has announced a $5-million increase in funding for the Victorian Youth Development Program.

More funds go the Youth Employment Initiative

The Premier, Mr Kennett has announced a further $2.4 million for the Victorian Government’s Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), creating an extra 1100 training positions.

50,000 new apprenticeships

The State Government has announced funding of $93.8 million for about 50,000 new TAFE places for apprentices and trainees over the next four years.

Ambulance studies centre for Frankston

The Victorian Government will provide $3 million to build a Monash University Centre for Ambulance and Paramedic Studies at the University’s Peninsula campus at Frankston, in a new approach to ambulance education and training.

More funding for school computers

Victorian Government schools will receive an additional $10.4 million to purchase new computers.

Students to go online

Victoria’s 527,000 government-school students will have access to their own email address and personal home page in possibly the largest on-line connection in the world.

Successes for school VET programs

An independent study by Melbourne University has confirmed the success of Vocational education and training (VET) programs in schools.

Students to get involved in fighting crime

Students will join forces with the police, local councils and other community agencies to fight underage drinking, vandalism and misuse of public areas under the Student Action Teams project.

Plan to improve teacher quality

The Minister for Education, Phil Gude, has released a plan to ensure high quality teacher graduates, based on the recommendations of the  Report of the Review of Graduate Teacher Outcomes.

$45m of TAFE capital works

The Minister for Tertiary Education and Training Phil Honeywood has announced a $45.7 million capital works program for nine TAFE colleges in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

950 schools trial Prep Entry Assessment Procedure

More than 950 Victorian schools will this year trial the Prep Entry Assessment Procedure, designed to help teachers determine each student's understanding of numeracy and literacy when they start school.

Call for uniform national literacy testing

Victorian Education Minister Phil Gude has called on all state and territory governments to commit themselves to uniform national literacy testing.

Air conditioning trial for classrooms

The Department of Education is set to trial reverse-cycle air-conditioning units in relocatable classrooms over the next few months.

Productivity Commission report on education

The Minister for Education, Phil Gude,  has commented on the Productivity Commission's Report on Government Service Provision 1999.

Poor response to union survey of principals

The Minister for Education, Phil Gude, has commented that in a recent survey of school principals by the Australian Education Union the union obtained only 287 responses, equal to only 10.3% of the 2,766 principals and assistant principals who work in Victoria's schools, only 1,800 survey questionnaires were sent out, and thus the views of 2479 principals and assistant principals were not represented in the survey results.

Research project to aid numeracy skills of primary students

A $3 million research project is to be established to improve the numeracy levels of young students.

Formation of Education Trust Victoria

Education Minister Phil Gude has announced the formation of a trust to support school education in Victoria.

Numbers of large classes declining

In Victorian schools, the proportion of classes with more than 30 students has been steadily declining over the past three years.

Internet helps with tertiary offers

Tertiary Education Minister Phil Honeywood has released this year's first round offer details by flicking a switch to commence the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) Internet service. This is the first time tertiary offers have been available on the Internet.

Major changes to VCE from 2000

Common Assessment Tasks are to be abolished, and the range of VCE subjects revised, under changes to be implemented from 2000.

1998

Latest parent survey results on schools

The latest Education Department Parent Opinion Survey figures show that 89.1 per cent of primary school parents and 82 per cent of secondary parents are satisfied with their schools.

International student numbers grow in Victoria

Victoria's universities have defied predictions of a downturn in overseas student numbers, registering a 19.8 per cent increase over the last 12 months.

New food hygiene training program

The Minister for Training, Phil Honeywood, has launched a new national training program in food hygiene which has been developed by the University of Ballarat (TAFE Division) and Australia's largest food wholesaler, Davids Limited.

Victoria's TAFE 'best in Australia'

The Minister for Tertiary Education and Training, Phil Honeywood, has responded to criticism of Victoria's TAFE system by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Brumby.

Self Governing schools named

Twenty-nine schools have been named to take part in the Self Governing Schools program from the start of the 1999 school year.

Life Education Victoria funded

The Government will fund Life Education Victoria in 1999 through a $400,000 grant from the Community Support Fund, as well as continuing support through the provision of a training and administrative facility at Templestowe Valley Primary School and in other ways.  (Office of the Minister for Education, 12 Nov 1998)

$70 million for schools upgrade projects

Victorian Schools are to receive an extra $70 million for maintenance work in the next stage of the Government’s pledge to provide $1 billion in school maintenance and capital works during its present term.

Teacher recruitment program to create 2,600 jobs

Up to 2,600 teaching jobs will be available in government primary and secondary schools next year.

37,000 laptops purchased for teachers

Minister for Education Phil Gude on 22 October announced the purchase of 37,000 laptop computers for Victoria's teachers.

Policy for School-Community/Business Partnerships

The new Framework for Developing School-Business/Community Relationships policy was launched by the Minister for Education, Mr Gude, on October 18.

Victorian TAFEs to go online

Victoria will lead the way with the creation of Australia's first virtual TAFE campus, attracting students from across Australia and overseas.

Go-ahead for $36m of school projects

A total of 48 government schools have been given the go-ahead to begin planning for building projects worth over $36 million.

Victorian Libraries to expand online information network

A new $1.8 million Libraries Online program has been launched to expand public access to the Internet through Victoria’s public libraries.

Anglicans Don't Close Their Schools

The Anglican Synod has not closed or scaled down Anglican schools or directed Anglican schools to refuse to accept increased Government funding, following a report to the Synod critical of the concept of private school education. 

Instead, the Synod has referred the report to parishes for further consultation.

The report  criticised the Commonwealth Government for permitting smaller private schools and increasing funding for non-government schools, and the "privatisation" of schools (by which the report appears to refer to enhancements to the private school sector). (Anglican Media News Release).  The report also criticised the level of funding for government schools in Victoria.

However, the News Release did not acknowledge that student-teacher ratios in Victoria are in line with national averages, that Victoria spends more than the standardised national average on Government school education, or that the Education Maintenance Allowance in Victoria is the highest of any state. (See Church Report Flawed)

Voluntary School Fees

Recent media reports have raised the issue of payment of voluntary school fees, linking such fees with the level of government funding for schools (eg, Herald-Sun 7 September, p1, The Age 9 September, p.A18).

However, the position regarding school fees has remained unchanged for many years and is the same as existed under the previous government.  Schools are entitled to ask parents to pay voluntary fees, but the payment remains voluntary.

The Association of School Councils has consistently argued that payment of fees should be made compulsory, primarily because of concern about "freeloaders", ie parents who whether out of principle or otherwise refuse to pay the fees although they can afford to do so.  However, the position of successive governments has been that the essentials of education are paid for by government.    School communities are free to raise further funds, but cannot compel contributions.

The issue exists regardless of the level of government funding for schools, because whatever the level there will always be the opportunity to do more and many parents will always be keen and willing to contribute to a better education for their children.  In any event, State Government funding of education has been increasing steadily in recent years (see State Budget Background)

The alternative to allowing voluntary contributions would be to prohibit or restrict the freedom of parents to help their children get a better education.

Successful Interventions Literacy Initiative

The Successful Interventions literacy program operates in a number of Victorian schools to provide support and assistance to students who are underachieving in literacy and numeracy.

Adult Enrolment in VCE

The Education Department has entered into new agreements with TAFE Institutes, Vocational Education and Training providers and Adult Community and Further Education (ACFE) providers which will enable them to enter into agreements with the Distance Education Centre of Victoria (DECV) to teach VCE courses to students over 21.

Cash balances of schools

Figures released by the Department of Education following an FOI request from The Age show that at the end of the 1997 school year government schools held $248,747,551 in bank accounts.  The majority of these funds are from government funding through school global budgets.  The sums held by schools will not affect the amount of government funding they receive in future.

Schools of the Future Review Results

The Final Report of the Cooperative Research Project: Leading Victoria’s Schools of the Future, entitled ‘Assessing the Impact’, was released in July.

Victorian Government Spending on Schools

The Deputy General Secretary of the Victorian Independent Education Union, Ms Trish Hodgson, has claimed that the Victorian Government spends less per capita on education than any other State or Territory ("Funding Facts Sheet" circulated in Catholic parishes, August 1998)

However, Commonwealth Grants Commission figures show that in 1996-97, Victorian Government spending on primary and secondary schools, government and non-government, was $38m higher than the national average of all States and Territories when adjusted for Victoria’s revenue raising capacity and service delivery costs.  The Grants Commission assessed the level of expenditure required in Victoria to achieve a standard outcome as $570.05 per head of population.  Victoria actually spent $578.34.

New TAFE promotional campaign

A new $1.8 million media campaign promoting Victoria’s TAFE system was launched by the Minister for Tertiary Education and Training, Mr Honeywood, on August 5.

Class size data released

Class sizes in Victoria have continued their downward trend in 1998.

2000

The Opposition has called on the Government to convene an urgent round-table of union officials over preschool funding and teacher salaries to avert the proposed strike by preschool teachers.  (24 July)

The Opposition has called on the Government not scrap physical education from the Victorian school curriculum. (20 July)

The Government has announced a review of Victoria's laws on employment of children. (4 July )

The Premier has opened the $1.7 million Alpine School, built at Dinner Plain in the Alpine region near Mt Hotham, Victoria's first residential government school, designed to cultivate the leadership skills of Year 9 students, and believed to be the first public school of its type in Australia. (10 June)

The Government has launched a drug education kit Get Wise: Working on Illicits in School Education  which will be given to all primary and secondary schools in the Victoria. (8 June)

The Shadow Education Minister Phil Honeywood says that the appointment of the 1996 ALP candidate for Mildura, Ms Robyn Paull, to co-chair a committee on the Institute of Teaching is another example of the Bracks Labor Government selecting mates for state committees and boards. (31 May)

The Government has established an Advisory committee, with a majority membership of teachers as well as principals, employer and higher education representatives, chaired by Mr. Don Tyrer Acting Director of Schools, to report by 1 April 2001,  to provide to advice to the Minister on the Government's proposed Institute of Teaching. (26 May)

(Unfortunately, news items have not been included between 10 March and 9 May, due to pressure of other commitments.)

The Minister for WorkCover has launched a new safety program targeting primary school aged children - the K.I.D.S. Safety Education program. (9 Mar)

The Government says it will provide an extra $4 million annually for the adult and community education sector, increasing funding by 33 per cent, from $12 million to $16 million, with $3.6 million for neighbourhood houses and $400,000 to establish Learning Town Networks in five regional areas. (7 Mar)

The Government denies that it has shifted school capital works funding from country to metropolitan schools. (7 Mar)

The Government has released a discussion paper on Victoria's apprenticeship and traineeship system. (1 Mar)

The Minister for Education has announced appointments for the Board of Studies following the end of the previous Board's term on December 31. (25 Feb)

The Government has backed the Camp Street Precinct project in Ballarat, established by the previous Government, with a further $950,000 in funding to assist with the move of the University of Ballarat's School of Arts into Camp Street. (22 Feb)

The Minister for Education has launched Victoria's first residential Government school, the Alpine School, at Dinner Plain, for government school students who have shown outstanding leadership potential. (16 Feb)

The State Government says it is providing an extra $10 million to the neediest non-government schools in 2000 as part of a four-year program that "promised up to $57.5 million". (2 Feb)

The Minister for Education says that preliminary reports from the majority of metropolitan primary schools reveal that the number of prep-grade two classes with more than 24 students had dropped from 64.5 per cent last year to 42 per cent at the start of the 2000 school year. (28 Jan)

The Government claims that an extra 1000 teachers and school support staff are commencing employment at the resumption of the school year as a result of funding announced last year. (27 Jan)

The Government has released 1999 schools data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which show that 76.2% of all Victorian students remained from Year 7 to Year 12 in 1999 and that the government school retention rate dropped from 77.9% in 1992 to 69.8% in 1999. The Minister did not provide comparable interstate data. (21 Jan)

The Government has urged schools to use the extra $12.2 million of funding for Year 2000 school budgets to prevent schoolyard bullying and harassment, and has ordered that a formal memorandum be sent to all schools to remind them that anti-bullying strategies are mandatory. (18 Jan)

51,120 applicants will receive first round offers to study at university, TAFE or other providers. Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) has received more than 70,000 applications. (17 Jan)

The Minister for Post Compulsory Education, Training and Employment has announced a review to address Victoria's alleged low education retention rates. (13 Jan)

1999

The Minister for State and Regional Development  has launched a $1.7 million microwave link between the University of Ballarat and its five regional campuses, supported by $600,000 in funding from the previous Government. (17 Dec)

Education Minister Mary Delahunty has launched a $3 million research and development project on teaching and learning in the middle years of schooling. (7 Dec)

The Minister for Education has announced that  she had repealed the section of Teaching Service Order 165 which prohibited teachers from making public comments about education policy. (30 Nov)

The Victorian Government will increase  the time for sport and physical education in public school curriculums to the levels recommended in the 1993 Moneghetti report, with primary school children to spend a minimum of 100 minutes each week participating in organised sporting activities, and secondary students to receive 100 minutes of sporting activity and 100 minutes of physical and health education. (25 Nov)

1998

SOFWeb, the Education Victoria web site for schools, including
Victorian School News, with fortnightly news and features
Information on Self-Governing Schools

The Board of Studies has information on the Victorian Certificate of Education, the Learning Assessment Project, the Curriculum Standards Framework and other subjects.

The Skills Website has information and extensive links on vocational skills, education and training from both an employer and employee perspective.

Association of TAFE Institutes

Office of Technical and Further Education

SOFWeb's list of Victorian Schools on the Internet

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) website is small and needs updating, but its publications page is more up to date.

DEETYA, the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs