The booming student population of Gungahlin looks set to gain from the ACT budget with $30.3 million for a new north Gungahlin primary school and a feasibility study into a new high school in the area.
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A $1 million feasibility study will consider future demand for a new Years 7-10 school in north Gungahlin while a new kindergarten to Year 10 school will be considered for Molonglo.
The north Gungahlin primary school will cater for an estimated 540 students and is scheduled to open in January 2019.
In total, Tuesday's budget will deliver $160 million across a range of education measures including classroom and IT upgrades and added support for students with disabilities.
It includes a previously announced $10.7 million Canberra Institute of Technology campus in Tuggeranong as well as $2.6 million worth of upgrades at the Bruce and Reid campuses.
The roofs of Melrose High and Mt Stromlo High will be replaced at a cost of $3.6 million with the money to be allocated from within existing resources.
Caroline Chisholm School will receive $6.5 million for a specialist learning centre to provide science, technology, engineering and maths programs for students across Tuggeranong.
Belconnen High School's long-awaited refurbishment will also receive $17.6 million – although this is $8.2 million less than what was originally promised in the 2012 Budget.
Replacing and upgrading computer equipment and expanding the wireless capacity across primary schools will cost $2.5 million next year. "Critical" centrally provided ICT support services will be maintained.
Students with disabilities will receive $3 million for resources to increase their participation in education as well as $925,000 for further assistance with transport for students with disabilities attending government schools. This funding is a one-off to help align the ACT with the National Disability Insurance Scheme trial.
The budget has also provided $615,000 to train teachers and support staff about domestic violence and the development of an online resource centre to connect families to support services. The funding, to be rolled out over two years, will focus on helping staff adhere to mandatory reporting requirements.
Teachers will share in $1.3 million rolled out in the next stage of online professional learning, teacher standards and professional practice through the ACT Teacher Quality Institute.
But the ACT's teacher workforce will help bear some of those costs through increases to their mandatory registration fees, which are set to rise slightly from 2017.
Fees will increase from $100 in 2016 to $105 in 2017, $110 in 2018 and $115 in 2019.
Almost $700,000 will be devoted to further delivering the national curriculum although once again, this is an agency-funded initiative, with the money to come from within existing resources.
