Key initiatives for 2014-15 include:
- investing $64 million as part of the 2014, semester 2 instalment of the $131 million Great Results Guarantee initiative to improve student performance in Queensland state schools
- investing up to $66.7 million of $537 million over five years to implement Great Teachers = Great Results to ensure professional excellence in teaching and boost Queensland state schools’ autonomy including strengthening discipline in schools commencing the new Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) statutory body responsible for syllabus development, supporting the implementation of syllabuses and the Australian Curriculum, testing, moderation, certification, tertiary entrance ranking, and administration of student accounts
- investing $1 million as part of $4 million over four years in additional funding to implement the Step Up into Education program to better prepare children for school, particularly children in areas of disadvantage
- investing $6 million for additional state schools to participate in the Independent Public Schools initiative as part of the total funding of $22.8 million over four years to increase autonomy in decision making, cut red tape and remove layers of management to improve outcomes for students
- continuing the third tranche of the four year program to roll out the equivalent of a full-time teacher aide to an additional 150 prep classes each year in areas of greatest need to provide up to 9,000 extra teacher aide hours per week by 2015-16
- continuing to invest in the four year Supporting Queenslanders with a Disability (Speech Pathologists) initiative to support speech pathology services in Queensland schools
- investing $250,000 as part of $1 million over four years to support Queensland schools with access to chaplaincy and student welfare services
- providing $1 million over four years to continue an education program for all Queensland schools, including implementation of the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum, to give children the knowledge to protect themselves and encourage reporting of suspected abuses
- investing $6.5 million in Queensland schools as part of $26 million over four years in Getting the Basics Right – Literacy and Numeracy grants to give principals more choice to select tailored literacy and numeracy programs that are matched to the needs of their students
- continuing to invest $1 million over three years to sponsor delegations of Queensland secondary school students to travel to ANZAC Day ceremonies at Gallipoli and the Western Front from 2013 to 2015
- continuing to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to make successful transitions from school to training, further study or into employment by partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families, education providers, employers and industry, and other government agencies
- completing the independent review of Queensland senior assessment and tertiary entrance processes
- developing a Queensland action plan to ensure the state’s international education and training is world class, responsive, robust and sustainable
- investing $100 million to meet maintenance backlogs in Queensland state schools under the Fixing Our Schools Fund.
Extract from the 2014-15 Queensland State Budget – Service Delivery Statements – Department of Education, Training and Employment, viewed 27 June 2014.
Youth on the Go 