A HOPPERS Crossing school has been forced to cut funding from programs and infrastructure works so it can continue to offer Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning subjects this year.
Warringa Park School lost about $40,000 from its budget after the state government ended funding for VCAL co-ordinators.
Victorian schools have missed out on $12million a year in funding, which they had relied on to run their VCAL programs.
Warringa Park assistant principal Marie Hayes said the school was determined to continue providing VCAL for its students, so it had to find the money elsewhere to fund the program.
“The cuts were made right across the board,” she said.
“We just had to find the money elsewhere but it has affected what we can offer. We had to cut funding from other programs and our planned infrastructure works for this year.”
Ms Hayes said Warringa Park, which focuses on helping children with intellectual disabilities get an education, had no choice but to continue its VCAL program because it was what drew many of the students there.
“Our students can finish school and have a VCAL qualification. It makes them feel like they have achieved something.”
A recent survey by the state opposition found that Warringa Park was not the only school redirecting funding from other areas to support its VCAL program.
Opposition education spokesman James Merlino said more than 100 schools responded to the survey, with many admitting to shifting money from other programs or cutting teaching hours to ensure their VCAL programs remained available.
But James Martin, a spokesman for Education Minister Martin Dixon, said there were no plans for funding to be reinstated.
“This payment was only ever meant to help in the establishment of VCAL when it was first introduced in 2003.”
