School of Isolated and Distance Education gets massive funding boost to cope with surging demand

WA’s distance education service will get a massive injection of funding to help it keep pace with surging demand. The School of Isolated and Distance Education is set to receive a $7.1 million funding boost from the State Government. Catering for students who cannot access classes in particular subjects — because they live in the bush, are travelling or do not have access to a specialist teacher — the public school has seen demand for its online learning services continue to grow, particularly among regional students. Schools struggling to find specialist teachers for Year 11 and 12 subjects such as maths and science have been increasingly turning to online learning through SIDE. Students login to their lessons in those subjects from their local school. According to its latest annual report, the number of students accessing one or more subjects through SIDE increased by more than 60 per cent between 2020 and 2022, rising from 2201 to 3714. The number of students taking subjects at city-based secondary schools increased from 175 to 291. The report said rising enrolments had been fuelled by the expansion of compulsory language programs, increased engagement with its vocational program and challenges for all schools trying to recruit teachers of specialist Year 11 and 12 ATAR subjects. A review completed earlier in 2023 said that SIDE had provided services across 240 schools, with enrolments approaching 4000. First established in 1918 to educate primary school children in the outback via correspondence lessons, SIDE has since transformed into an online learning model that caters for students from kindergarten to Year 12. Education Minister Tony Buti said SIDE was an important part of WA’s history that continued to offer an integral service for families in regional and remote parts of the State. The increase in resourcing would ensure SIDE could maintain appropriate student-to-teacher ratios. “We’re committed to ensuring that every student in WA has access to a high-quality education, regardless of their circumstances,” Dr Buti said. “This additional investment will ensure SIDE is appropriately resourced and able to provide a range of long-term learning, social and welfare benefits for students, including those who are more vulnerable.” As teaching shortages continue to bite, the Education Department has been recruiting qualified teachers from interstate and overseas, offering them generous relocation packages and visa sponsorship to fill gaps in regional schools. It also set up a pre-service teacher recruitment pool to allow more unqualified trainee teachers in their final year of study to be employed in public schools. It has also offered financial incentives to encourage more teachers to move to the bush.