Despite the growing trend of urbanites relocating to regional areas, metropolitan-based Shane Wright is one of many professionals hesitant to move to one regional city due to concerns about the quality of education.
The 24-year-old teacher is one of the many young white-collar workers concerned the lack of resources and opportunities for children's academic and personal growth could hinder their prospects.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) stated capital cities had a net loss of 11,800 people from internal migration during COVID-19 in 2021 — the largest quarterly net loss on record.
However, the Melbourne-based teacher, who did not have children, said the level of education available in Mildura was a "big deterrent" to moving to the regional city.
"Knowing how schools work, I would be looking at schools that are performing better," Mr Wright said.
"Sending them to a school that is performing below average sort of feels like I'm robbing them of the chance to succeed.
"I'd rather not risk it."
Teacher training
All teachers in Victoria are required to complete professional development yearly to maintain their registration, which Mr Wright said was easier to do in capital cities.
"There are conventions going on throughout the year in the city that are really accessible because you're talking about driving half an hour to an hour to go to a convention that runs for a day whereas obviously, living regionally, it's a much bigger task," he said.
Trinity Lutheran College (TLC) is the top performing secondary (years 7 to 10) school in Mildura, according to comparison website Better Education.
Students at the college perform 0.65 per cent below the state average in maths and 1.8 per cent above the state average in reading, according to another comparison resource called My Choice.
TLC principal Eloise Beveridge agreed development opportunities were lacking in Mildura.
"Geographically, it's difficult to get our teachers into city areas to engage in these levels of upskilling and professional development because of the travel time, the expense that comes with that, and needing to replace them on the ground," Ms Beveridge said.
"In any regional area across Australia, I think it's crucial that we value teachers and give them the same opportunities, if not more for professional learning and development, for leadership opportunities."
Attraction and retention
Mildura-based recruitment agency Prestige Staffing has heard dozens of metropolitan-based professionals air similar concerns when considering moving to the region.
Administration and marketing coordinator Sharni Robinson said it took more than a good job offer to attract candidates to regional areas.
"It [the quality of education in Mildura] is a big issue in having them move," Ms Robinson said.
"Even if they can buy or rent somewhere, if it's not near the school they want their kids to go to then they won't take it."
Mildura general practitioner and father Mehdi Sanati Pour, who has also worked in Melbourne, said higher education opportunities for children was a concern.
"Quality educational opportunities in rural areas are limited and most GPs either move to larger cities for better schools or send their children for boarding, which has a significant emotional and financial toll on GPs and their families," Dr Sanati Pour said.
"We feel guilty if we can't provide the best education for our children."
But Dr Sanati Pour said it was "easy to criticise the system without providing a solution".
One of the solutions Dr Sanati Pour recommended was receiving a grant for tuition fees and boarding fees of children of doctors who worked in rural areas, from the Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria (RWAV), a not-for-profit government-funded organisation improving health care for rural, regional, and Aboriginal communities in Victoria.
"[RWAV] has multiple scholarships and grants. One of these grants is the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) exam preparation grant," he said.
"An example is that RWAV offers a 50 per cent grant for tuition and boarding of one child if a doctor works, or commits to work, in a rural area for five years, and a second child if they work for 10 years.
"This will give peace of mind to doctors and their families that their child can get equal education compared with their city counterparts and encourage the current GPs with younger children to stay in rural areas."
Regional incentive
The state government has launched a program involving coordinating and supporting groups of participating pre-service teachers to undertake placements in clusters of rural and regional schools, including in East Gippsland, Wimmera, Mallee, and North-East Victoria.
St Arnaud, Bairnsdale, Wangaratta, Tallangatta, the Otways, and Swan Hill schools will also benefit.
The $2.6 million Teach Rural pilot program will see up to 200 teachers being placed at government schools across rural and regional Victorian in 2023 and 2024.
