Friday, December 13, 2024

Student teachers to be paid for regional placements

Student teachers completing school placements will now be eligible to receive payments of up to $420 per day for their work in regional, remote and specialist government schools, the Victorian Government has announced.

Premier, Jacinta Allan says supporting pre-service teachers at schools in rural and regional Victoria and special schools across the state will help build a pipeline of world-class teachers at schools that need them most.

The Premier joined Minister for Education, Ben Carroll, to visit Monash Special Developmental School (pictured) today to announce the boost to student teacher payments.

Premier Allan said the 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.

“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,” she said.

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.

“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,” said Minister Carroll.

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