- Published:
- Monday 20 November 2023
The Allan Labor Government is supporting pre-service teachers at schools in rural and regional Victoria and special schools across the state, building a pipeline of world-class teachers at schools that need them most.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Education Ben Carroll today visited Monash Special Developmental School to announce that students completing their teaching placements are now eligible to receive payments of up to $420 per day for their work in regional, remote and specialist government schools.
The Labor Government’s $32.2 million Pre-service Teacher Placement Grants program will help to cover the costs student teachers often incur undertaking placements in regional and remote schools – including accommodation, travel and other loss of income.
The new support is designed to encourage teaching students to complete placements in Victorian specialist schools and across regional Victoria, with these schools offering considerable opportunities for future employment when students graduate.
Eligible teachers will be given a daily grant ranging from $140 per day in regional urban centres and metropolitan specialist schools to $420 per day in outer regional and remote schools.
The grants will be available to students enrolled in an accredited Victorian school teaching degree from 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2025 – funding up to 11,000 placements ove the next two years.
The Pre-service teacher Placement Grants program follows the Labor Government’s recent $229.8 million investment to support the teaching workforce – including:
$93.2 million for scholarships to make studying a secondary teaching degree completely free for around 4,000 future teachers each year
$95.7 million to expand the successful Australian-first Career Start initiative to support more graduate teachers in government schools
$27 million for the Targeted Financial Incentives Program that provides $50,000 to assist teachers from Victoria, interstate and overseas relocate to hard-to-staff positions in government schools.
In total, the Labor Government has invested more than $1.6 billion to support and grow our schools’ workforce since 2019.
Quote attributable to Premier Jacinta Allan
"We've made Victoria the best place in Australia to study teaching – that's how we can build a pipeline of great teaching talent and spread the benefits across the state."
Quote attributable to Minister for Education Ben Carroll
“Student teachers deserve support to pursue their career without financial pressure – so we’re supporting them to undertake their placements while making sure staff are going to schools where they’re most needed.”
Quote attributable to Member-elect for Mulgrave Eden Foster
“Special schools like Monash SDS are wonderful communities and fantastic learning experiences for pre-service teachers to put their skills and training into practice in real-life classrooms.”