Parties out for more teachers

BETTER incentives to entice regional students into teaching careers.

Encouraging engineers and others leaving the resources industry into a second career as maths or science teachers.

Committing state funding to help universities set up video conference equipment in more rural schools and ensuring adequate bandwidth and connectivity to do so.

These are suggestions from regional Queenslanders responding to the Fair Go for Our Kids campaign this paper launched two weeks ago.

An LNP spokesman said they would work to “improve internet access and boost learning outcomes for children in remote settings”.

He said while university funding was Commonwealth, the LNP was willing to work with the education sector on how to deliver best outcomes.

Labor has promised to use spare capacity on publicly owned optical fibre networks to increase competition for regional Queensland, which it says could improve education.

A Labor spokesman said remote teaching was used when and where appropriate. But the party has not committed to expanding the practice.

The LNP agrees on incentives, saying it “strongly supports encouraging more students into key teaching areas like maths and will work to boost this into the future”.

Labor said there were already incentives for teachers to work in the regions. Both parties alluded to education policies still to come.