Teaching Qualifications

In reply to Mr PISONI (Unley) (10 September 2015).

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for the Public Sector): The Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills has advised:

It remains our intention to deliver on this commitment and to ensure that the South Australian public school system is the first in Australia to work towards such high across-the-board standards.

We are still in the process of negotiating additional postgraduate commonwealth supported places with the federal minister.

I can advise that the Premier recently met with the new Education Minister, Senator Simon Birmingham, who advised that he was willing to consider the original request for additional Commonwealth places.

The government is also offering 240 scholarships between 2015 and 2020 to enable teachers already in schools to undertake a masters.

Yes, students can access FEE-HELP. For 2015, the FEE-HELP limit is $97,728 for most students and it is a lifetime limit.