A Labor Government will deliver $440 million to schools for better ventilation, building upgrades, and mental health support, as part of a new plan to help Australian kids bounce back after COVID.
\nLabor\u2019s plan including the\u00a0Schools Upgrade Fund\u00a0and\u00a0Student Wellbeing Boost\u00a0will make sure our schools are better prepared, not just for this term but for the future.
\nThe Morrison-Joyce Government doesn\u2019t have a plan for next week, let alone next year. Labor won\u2019t make that mistake.
\nSchools will be able to access grants from a\u00a0Schools Upgrade Fund\u00a0to improve air quality with measures such as better ventilation, building more outdoor classrooms, replacing boarded-up windows and doors and buying air purifiers. Funding will be available for other much needed school upgrades as well.
\nParents are worried sick about sending their kids back to school. Scott Morrison\u2019s delays getting a COVID vaccine for young people means many students will be more exposed returning to class.
\nBecause COVID is an airborne disease, experts say better ventilation and cleaner air will reduce transmission and prevent outbreaks. Labor\u2019s plan for ventilation upgrades will help achieve that, protecting our kids, and school staff.
\nFunding will also be available for school upgrades including new and refurbished school buildings and trades training centres. Making sure our schoolkids have access to terrific facilities will help get their education back on track after all the COVID disruptions. We know it\u2019s been hard for P&Cs to fundraise over the last two years, with the usual sausage sizzles, cakes stalls and fetes cancelled due to the pandemic.
\nLabor will also provide schools with extra funding to get children\u2019s mental health and wellbeing back on track with a\u00a0Student Wellbeing Boost. This will mean more school counsellors and psychologists, and extra funding for camps, excursions, as well as sporting and social activities that improve kids\u2019 wellbeing. Labor will also have the education department conduct a rapid review of the impact of COVID on students with disability, so they get the support they need.
\nEvery Australian school will benefit. Labor will work with state and territory governments and school systems to distribute the funding based on need. Schools will get a big say in how to use the extra money to best help their kids. Labor\u2019s plan will also fund a free, expert developed, voluntary mental health check, that schools could choose to use to help quickly identify students who may need extra support.
\nThe past two years have been hard for all Australians. But our kids have suffered a unique loss.
\nThey\u2019ve been robbed of some of the simple joys of growing up \u2013 school camps, team sports, playground friendships, and sleepovers.
\nRemote learning, exam chaos, and now the delays in supplying paediatric vaccines, have turned what should be some of the best years of their lives into a bit of a nightmare.
\nMany are struggling with their mental wellbeing.
\nResearchers at the Australian National University found more than 60 per cent of parents said their children\u2019s mental health and wellbeing had gone downhill during COVID. A 2021 Mission Australia Youth Survey found more than 60 per cent of young people said their education had been negatively impacted by COVID.
\nLabor doesn\u2019t want any Australian child held back because of the pandemic.
\nWhen you\u2019re struggling with stress or anxiety, you\u2019re missing out on learning.
\nLabor\u2019s plan for extra mental health support will help lighten the load for schoolkids and their parents, and get kids\u2019 wellbeing, learning, and development back on track.
\nWe\u2019ve heard nothing from Scott Morrison about a plan to keep our kids COVID-safe at school.
\nI suppose that shouldn\u2019t surprise us.
\nThis Prime Minister never shows leadership. Every problem is someone else’s fault.
\nBut our kids are paying the price.
\nParents know what a big toll COVID is taking on our kids. Labor\u2019s plan is exactly what they need to help them bounce back, at school, and in life.
\nToday\u2019s announcement builds on Labor\u2019s other plans for education including 20,000 extra university places, 465,000 free TAFE places, and making early learning cheaper for working families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Labor Government will deliver $440 million to schools for better ventilation, building upgrades, and mental health support, as part of a new plan to help Australian kids bounce back after COVID. Labor\u2019s plan including the\u00a0Schools Upgrade Fund\u00a0and\u00a0Student Wellbeing Boost\u00a0will make sure our schools are better prepared, not just for this term but for the … Continue reading “Labor\u2019s Plan to Help Our Schoolkids Bounce Back”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14615\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}