Education State message not cutting through to voters: new poll
The Andrews government has made record investments in schools and TAFE, but a new poll suggests its Education State message is not cutting through to voters.
The poll of 1025 Victorians, which was commissioned by the Australian Education Union, reveals that just 34 per cent of voters think state Labor is better equipped to deliver on education, compared to the 31 per cent who prefer the Liberals’ approach.
But when it came to funding TAFE, public schools and preschools, Labor has a significant lead of up to 15 points over the opposition.
With less than four months before the November state election, the Australian Education Union will on Sunday launch a campaign that calls on all parties to fund free preschool for all three and four-year-olds and to close a gap that sees Victorian students receive $1589 less state and federal funding per student than the national average.
It’s also calling on politicians to fund an additional 1600 teachers every year over the next decade and wants a guarantee that 70 per cent of vocational education funding will be quarantined for TAFEs.
The union’s Victorian branch president, Meredith Peace, said education was going to be a critical issue ahead of the state election. This is backed by the poll, which shows that education, health and police and public safety are key issues in the eyes of voters.
“We will be putting pressure on all political parties to commit to investing in public education,” Ms Peace said.
“I don’t want to hear about politics and ideology, we want to hear about the investment they are prepared to make.”
She said population growth was one of the most significant issues facing the state’s education system, with 90,000 additional students entering the state’s schools over the next five years.
“We need additional infrastructure, we need additional teachers, we need additional investment in order to respond to that growth,” Ms Peace said.
She said while the government had made significant progress with its promise to transform Victoria into the Education State, there was still more work to do.
“Every day our members talk to us and say they can’t provide the support, the individualised programs that they know their students need,” she said.
The union’s campaign will involve radio, online and billboard advertising and target voters in marginal seats.
The opposition has pledged that if it wins the election it will review the curriculum and instill Australian values in students, embed police in 10 schools to combat a "violent scourge of youth crime" and ban mobile phones in classrooms. It recently announced that it would replace the Safe Schools initiative with an Alannah and Madeline Foundation anti-bullying program.
But the poll found 44 per cent of voters thought the opposition's pledge to scrap the Safe Schools program was a bad idea, and 33 per cent were not in favour of stationing police in schools.
Labor campaigned heavily on education ahead of the 2014 state election, promising to emblazon “The Education State” on Victorian number plates.
Since coming to power, it has invested $3.8 billion in improving classrooms, upgrading facilities and building new schools across the state.
It has also turned around the fortunes of TAFEs through a $320 million rescue fund and recently announced that TAFE would be free for students in 30 priority courses and 18 pre-apprenticeship courses.