By MELISSA MEEHAN
AS THE political circus continues to roll into town, Emerald has had its fair share of funding announcements in the seat of Latrobe in the lead up to the Federal election.
Federal Minister for Education Bill Shorten joined LaTrobe MP Laura Smyth at Emerald Secondary College on Wednesday.
But the latest pollie visit didn’t include any announcements, instead just a meet and greet with teachers taking part in the Teach for Australia program as well as a select group of students.
Mr Shorten, who kept teachers and students waiting for almost an hour, strongly pushed the message that a vote for Labour was a vote for education – despite keeping school captains out of class while awaiting his arrival.
Mr Shorten said that if his party was elected, Emerald Secondary College would stand to gain a lot of money over the next six years.
“This means more subjects will be on offer, more teachers available and the ability to support more students with special needs,” Mr Shorten said.
“It’s already obvious to us that the number of students with special needs is going up from 50, to 60 to 70 students over the next few years and being the regional public school in the area – these things are key issues for us.”
Mr Shorten said a mixture of available classes was necessary to meet the needs of all students and would help ensure they continued their education after high school.
“This includes VCAL, setting up trade training centres in the Yarra Ranges,” he said.
“It’s a big issue that not every child wants to go to university and we need to be able to provide them with opportunities to go on to complete an apprenticeship or further training.”
Ms Smyth said it was great that a number of teachers at Emerald Secondary College had taken part in the Teach for Australia program, and that it meant schools like Emerald would benefit from better teachers in the future.
