Purchases will be made — new uniforms and stationary, pencil cases and school bags. All the gear that signals the excitement of the new school year.

The excitement is justified. The schools that these kids are returning to are vastly different to what they were four years ago, when Labor took over the reins of Australia's education system and backed it with over $65 billion in funding.

As an example, every Victorian student in Years 9-12 will this year have access to a computer, transforming the way our teachers teach and our students learn.

And this is thanks to the Gillard Government's $2.4 billion Digital Education Revolution.

Not only is the way kids are taught changing for the 21st century, we now have a new national curriculum for the new century.

In 2012, Victorian teachers and students will be preapring for the national curriculum, with all four subjects to be taught in classrooms to year 10 in 2012, using the Victorium curriculum website.

When I visit schools across the country, speaking to principals, teachers, parents and students, one of the first things they talk about is the government's Building the Education Revolution program, and what an incredible difference this program has made.

Under the BER program, the government has invested $3.7 billion in Victoria, translating to over 932 classrooms, 599 libraries, 599 multi-purpose halls and 109 science and language centres.

We also care about what happens to students when they finish school, and that's why we are offering greater career opportunities by giving every senior high school student access to a Trade Training Centre.

In Victoria, the government has already spent $275.9 million on 50 Trade Training Centre projects, benefiting 226 schools; just part of the $2.5 billion Gillard government investment across Australia over 10 years.

In 2012, we will also be part of an important debate about the way our schools are funded, with the release of the school funding review and our initial response.

This is the first major review of funding arrangements for Australian schools is more than 30 years, and we'll be talking to school communities throughout the year as a new funding model is developed.

This is set to be a historic year for education and I look forward to building on Labor's vision to provide every student in every school a world-class education.

PETER GARRETT

Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth