$13.5 mil support fund for bushfire-affected schools
School students affected by the devastating Victorian bushfires will have access to a special support fund, aimed at taking the pressures off families.
Education
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Victorian school students and their families hit by the devastating bushfires will get access to a $13.5 million government support fund.
The package, with funding to boosting mental health support at public and private schools, will focus on the Alpine, East Gippsland and Towong regions.
It will include $5 million for camps, sports and excursions for eligible primary and secondary students and $4 million for additional psychologists and social workers in schools.
A further $3.8 million will be used to set up a Trauma Recovery Team to help affected schools and kinders.
Another $650,000 in subsidies will help families with kids in four-year-old kinder in the Alpine, East Gippsland and Towong areas.
Regional areas of Ararat, Ballarat, Glenelg, Golden Plains, Indigo, Mansfield, Northern Grampians, Pyrenees, Southern Grampians, Wangaratta, Wellington and Wodonga will be targeted for additional support.
Bushfire Recovery Victoria chair Ken Lay said the initiatives would “ensure the right supports are in place to take the pressure off families”.
Education minister James Merlino said the bushfires had “devastated many communities in Victoria and we’re doing everything we can to support students and staff as they get back to school, kindergarten and training”.
“We’re providing financial, health and wellbeing support Victorians impacted by this summer’s bushfires need.”
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Meanwhile, some Gippsland schools are waiving fees for families directly hit by the fires.
Fee relief is being offered to parents with children at Catholic campuses in a bid to ease their family’s transition back to school.
They will also be given access to books and uniforms while affected teachers will be offered time off and relief staff hired.
The Catholic Diocese of Sale has 44 schools across Gippsland, with two directly impacted by the fires in Orbost and LakesEntrance.
“We are very aware that some of our students, staff and families have been through a difficult time, and we’re putting a range of measures in place to assist them,” Catholic Education director for the Sale Diocese Maria Kirkwood said.
Most students will start school on Wednesday, while some will head back on Thursday following a curriculum day.
For more information on the government package go to education.vic.gov.au