Labor will invest $750,000 in outside school hours care if it wins the next state election

Labor has spruiked its plan for an extension of outside school hours care in a further 10 Tasmanian government schools in a plan to get more parents into work. DETAILS >>

• The cost of public schooling is far from equal across Tasmania
• Tasmania’s most expensive public school costs revealed

OUTSIDE school hours care would be rolled out in an additional 10 Tasmanian government schools if Labor won government at the next state election.

The party would invest $750,000 — $75,000 at each of the 10 schools — to upgrade facilities, buy new equipment and cover the administration costs involved.

Labor education spokesman Josh Willie said the policy was designed to remove barriers to employment and give families more options to return to the workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Willie said the scheme was targeted towards supporting children and families in areas where there is currently no provision for such a service.

“We know that service providers are keen to establish services in some schools but there is a risk to them,’’ he said.

“That means the money that’s being provided by us in government, hopefully, is able to remove those barriers.

“We will partner with the local community to make sure services are designed to meet the needs of both children and families.”

Shadow Education Minister Josh Willie and Chief Executive of Adventure Patch childcare Lynne Moran and Blake Godcombe, 9, and Lucas Jenkinson, 7, on Labor's plan to extend outside school hours care to help Tasmanian families back into work in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Picture: Eddie Safarik

Lynne Moran, the chief executive of child care service Adventure Patch, said Labor’s scheme would give providers confidence that extending their offering would be viable.

“There’s many school communities in Tasmania that don’t have access to outside school hours care at the moment, and establishing a service is a big commitment,’’ she said.

“As a not-for-profit organisation, our focus is on providing a service in the community where there’s a need ... sometimes that’s really difficult if there’s only a small number of children that need outside school hours care.”

She said Adventure Patch currently provided outside school hours care at six schools in Tasmania.

CHEAPER SCHOOL FOR FAMILIES AROUND TASSIE

January 26, 2021

Blair Richards

HALF of the families of students attending state government schools this year will be exempt from paying school levies.

Under the policy which aims to make school more affordable for low-income families, eligibility for the Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) has moved to using the Health Care Card or equivalent as the assessment mechanism.

The change was announced as part of measures to support families following the impacts of COVID-19.

An Education Department spokesman said the extension of the STAS followed a review of levies.

“Thousands of Tasmanian families will benefit from the expansion of the Student Assistance Scheme, which waives the cost of Tasmanian Government levies for eligible students, for the 2021 school year onwards,” the spokesman said.

“The expansion has now been implemented and parents are currently applying and can do so though the school year. This could potentially see up to 9000 additional students become eligible for STAS, which means that around one in two students will no longer pay school levies.

“This will make a significant difference to the cost of living burden for families doing it tough. For example, for a family with three school age students this could provide a saving of over $1000 per year.”

Levies are charged to contribute to the cost of a child’s education program such as learning materials, stationery, excursions and camps.

Tasmanian Association of State School Organisations president Jared Dickason welcomed the expansion of the STAS.

“We have pushed them for many, many years for the (expansion) of STAS so we were very excited after 10 years of lobbying that actually happened,” he said.

A full list of 2019 school levies released following a Right to Information request by the Mercury showed the most expensive public schools in Tasmania cost up to five times more per student than the most affordable.

The difference can amount to hundreds of dollars per year.