Realising our potential
Realising Our Potential invests an extra $3.5 billion in education and training over four years. It provides additional funding of $1.7 billion for universities, $222 million to improve access to tertiary education, $638 million for vocational education and $843 million for schools. The Government is also financing an unprecedented new investment in universities through a Higher Education Endowment Fund with initial capital of $5 billion sourced from the 2006‑07 surplus.
Realising Our Potential is a comprehensive package that invests an additional $3.5 billion over four years in higher education, vocational education and schools, on top of an unprecedented initial investment of $5 billion in a new Higher Education Endowment Fund.
Realising Our Potential will fundamentally change the higher education landscape. It is centred on meeting the needs of students and employers and recognises that ultimately it is students themselves who are in the best position to judge what education opportunities they wish to pursue.
Reforms to how university places are managed and funded will allow universities greater flexibility to change their course mixes and student numbers.
These reforms will support the emergence of more world class institutions and encourage greater specialisation and diversity in the sector.
The university and vocational education and training sectors are becoming increasingly interlinked. Realising Our Potential recognises this and encourages the removal of arbitrary distinctions between different levels of tertiary education. It will result in greater choice for students and better quality courses.
In schooling, Realising Our Potential will improve the quality of our school systems through raising the quality of teaching — one of the most essential elements of a high quality education. It will also enhance literacy and numeracy attainment, especially for those children falling behind.
Realising our Potential
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