We urgently ask you to sign this petition to reverse the cuts to the Tutor Learning Initiative, a program that helps students struggling with literacy and numeracy in Victorian schools. 
   
What is the TLI program and who does it help?  
In 2026 funding for the Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) program is being cut in many schools, leaving students needing crucial support without targeted help they need to improve their literacy and numeracy skills. 
 
At Glenroy College, the cut to the TLI program will see a $360,000 reduction of funds for staffing. Other schools in the wider Broadmeadows area could lose up to $1.2 million in funding. This is funding that government schools in the North can’t afford to lose.  

The Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) began in 2021 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption to student learning. It provides government and some non-government schools with funding for tutors to deliver targeted small-group support in literacy and numeracy. Although the pandemic has passed, the TLI program needs to continue, especially in schools where targeted TLI assistance made a big, and positive difference to students.    
 
What is at stake? 
The tutor program at Glenroy College has been successful and needs to remain in place. TLI at Glenroy College is a structured reading program that helps students build skills in basic reading and thinking skills. Students who need extra help are identified through testing and data, then taught with clear, evidence-based methods. Their progress is checked every four weeks, and many go on to succeed in regular classes.  The program now supports 17 students. Losing funding would take away vital help for these students and undo all the progress made so far.  
 
TLI allows students to develop the skills they need to access the curriculum and participate in class with their peers. The students attending TLI are already several years behind in their learning, and without help, that gap only widens. Attending the program regularly results in students being more willing to participate in their English class because they can now better understand the work, rather than being completely lost.  
 
Experiencing success in TLI is shifting the attitudes. For some of these students, it is the first time they have experienced success at school. The end of the program, due to funding cuts, could likely spell the end of their new interest in learning. 
 
Why do we need to act now?
Victorian secondary schools have been allocated funding for next year without TLI funding. Decisions are being made now about staffing, some teachers could lose their jobs. If schools decide to continue TLI without funding, other programs will need to be cut. Our schools are already unfunded. Enough is enough!   
 
It's vital that we act now to reverse the funding cuts and provide government schools with the funding they need to continue their great work educating all students.    
 
Sign this petition and contact your local member of parliament. 
 
Authorised by Daryl Croke
 
Glenroy College Sub-Branch AEU President 
Broadmeadows AEU Region President