Victoria Will Deploy Thousands of Tutors to Help Students Who Have Fallen Behind After Lockdown

The scheme will be introduced in 2021.

Let's face it: 2020 didn't exactly go smoothly. The coronavirus pandemic totally disrupted life as we know it, forcing students to learn remotely for a portion of the year.

Of course, Victorian students have been hit the hardest by COVID-19. In fact, it was announced back in August that every Victorian Year 12 student will be individually assessed so that the impact of coronavirus can be reflected in their ATAR. 

Fortunately, the number of coronavirus cases in the state have significantly dropped, so Victorian students were able to resume face-to-face learning on Monday 12 October.

However, there's no getting around the fact that learning from home simply isn't the same as learning in a face-to-face environment.

So, if you've felt yourself falling behind in your coursework, you're certainly not the only one.

Luckily, the Victorian government is spending $250 million to recruit and deploy more than 4,100 tutors to Victorian schools next year to assist students who have struggled during the state's coronavirus lockdown.

As reported by the ABC, Victoria's Minister for Education James Merlino said the funding was the single biggest boost to individual learning in the state's history, and would benefit every government school across Victoria.

"We know some students thrived during remote learning, but we also know some struggled. This is about ensuring no student is left behind," Mr Merlino said.

Overall, the tutoring will support more than 200,000 students who may have fallen behind in their studies during remote learning. 

Additionally, the Victorian government will allocate another $30 million to recruit 600 tutors to work with disadvantaged students in Catholic and independent schools.

Retired teachers, casual relief teachers and pre-service teachers are being encouraged to fill the tutoring roles. 

Okay, but how will the tutoring work? 

These tutors will be deployed during the 2021 school year (sorry, 2020 graduates), and it'll be up to schools to decide how best to use the extra support staff. 

Students will undertake individual assessments, so those who are in need of extra support can be identified. 

Mr Merlino highlighted that tutoring could take place in small groups, in sessions of around 45 minutes. 

"All the evidence, international and domestic, shows that this is the best way to get the biggest difference in bringing kids back up to speed," Mr Merlino said.

There will be 16 Koori support workers recruited across the state, and 60 multilingual and bicultural workers to help out students whose first language isn't English.

Hey, at least 2021 is shaping up to be a more normal year... hopefully.

Header Image: ABC