Free & Universal Education
The ACT Greens believe that every person in Canberra should have access to free and high quality education.
But at the moment, the cost of living crisis is making a good education harder and harder to afford. The ACT Greens believe a good education shouldn’t have to come with a price tag.
That's why the ACT Greens will make education truly free for everyone in Canberra - from access to free early childhood education, right through to funding public schools properly.
JUMP TO: Early Childhood Education | Setting Up Schools for Success
Free & Universal Early Education
The foundation to a good life is a good education - the Greens believe that this education starts as soon as our kids are born, not just when they enter pre-school.
But for too long, early childhood education and care costs in Australia have been skyrocketing and it’s holding kids back by denying them essential early learning opportunities.
High fees have made our society less equal, and have limited choices for women, who often give up study and career opportunities to take on caring responsibilities.
The ACT Greens will make early childhood education and care genuinely free for every three and four year old in Canberra.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Provide 18 hours a week of free, universal education to every three and four year-old in Canberra by 2028
- Scale up our free and universal education plan to 30 hours a week of free education for three and four year olds by 2034
- Create new scholarships to help train more educators in the early childhood education sector
- Boost support for educators to build skills and complete masters degrees
Setting Up SChools For Success
The ACT Greens are committed to ensuring a free public education is the best education you can get.
It’s absolutely possible, as long as we invest to ensure everyone in the system can thrive.
Not only do we need the physical infrastructure to provide a good education to every student, we must invest in the intangible, systematic structures that support teachers to be at their best and allow students to reach their full potential.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Retain and attract great teachers by reducing administrative burdens
- Build a new school in Belconnen Town Centre
- Engage transparently with the community about long term infrastructure planning and upgrades
- Expand provision of free breakfast and lunch clubs
- Support and fully deliver the ACT Literacy & Numeracy Review
- Recruit school wellbeing teams and develop a systematic response to bullying
- Compassionately address school refusal, also known as ‘School Can’t’
- Improve governance and compliance