SYDNEY, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) will invest a record 24.4 billion Australian dollars (about 18.4 billion U.S. dollars) in public education to support lifelong learning.
The 2021-22 NSW Budget was announced on Tuesday, including 20.5 billion Australian dollars (about 15.5 billion U.S. dollars) in schools, more than 725 million Australian dollars (about 547 million U.S. dollars) investment in early childhood education, and 2.9 billion Australian dollars (about 2.2 billion U.S. dollars) in skills.
The funding to schools, which involve more than 800,000 students each year and 74,000 staff in this system, accounted for the biggest part of public education investment in the budget.
The investment will focus on the constructions, NSW curriculum reform and teachers' training and supply.
"The new curriculum will benefit students. It will streamline their classroom content and it will be taught in a way we know works," NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell said in a press release.
"Teachers will also benefit from explicit guides, professional learning, training and resources created by curriculum experts and tested in the field."
According to the state's budget, pre-schools will continue to be free for parents, with a new Start Strong Free Preschool program to start from January 2022.
It is expected families will save up to 4,000 Australian dollars (about 3,017 U.S. dollars) per year per child in preschool fees.
Meanwhile, the NSW government will continue working with partners on a program to help boost children's literacy levels and school readiness.
The program currently supports over 3,000 children in 17 communities across NSW, with the target to benefit 15,000 children in vulnerable communities. Enditem
