South-west parents will have to find more money in the family budget to pay for rising education costs as their children head back to school next week.
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New data revealed the cost of education has risen at more than double the rate of inflation over the past 10 years, and outstripped the growth in wages over the same period.
Regional Victorian parents will spend up to $2652 this year to attend a government primary school or $4720 at a faith-based school the Australian Scholarship Group (ASG) says.
A year at secondary school will cost regional Victorian parents $3573 at a government school or $9524 at a faith-based school in 2018.
These figures include fees, extra curricular activities, clothing, necessities, travel and computers.
Computers will cost families between $339 to $358 in primary school and $571 to $586 in secondary schools.
ASG’s Chief Operating Officer Bruce Hawkins said families were feeling the pinch.
“The cost of education in regional Australia has soared by 58 per cent compared to the average growth rate in wages of 34 per cent,” Mr Hawkins said.
“This means that education costs are demanding a far greater share of the family wallet than in the past, placing more burden on the average family, already challenged by the rising cost of living.
St Vincent de Paul Glenelg regional council president Chris Pye expects demand from families seeking help to soar in the next two weeks.
“I know people are really frightened about trying to find money and they’re struggling to put money aside for education,” Mr Pye said.
“We know it’s going to happen but until people ring into our centre we don’t know how desperate things are going to get. They’re not going to improve on other years that’s for sure.”
Mr Pye encouraged families who were struggling to meet education costs to contact the social worker at their school first. “There are funds for uniforms and school shoes and for school camps,” he said.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics found in 2015-16, Australian households spent 2.1 per cent of their weekly expenditure on school education.
In 2016 there were around 3,798,000 students were enrolled, with 65 per cent of those attending government schools.
