Following hot on the footsteps of Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro, NSW Nationals Education Minister Sarah Mitchell was in the Clarence Valley last Wednesday to meet local students and announce improvements to education, according to Clarence Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis. “The Minister made three announcements, the biggest of which is that all 11 public schools in the Richmond Valley and all 24 in the Clarence Valley are set to benefit from lighting fast fibre broadband over the next 18 months, thanks to a $328 million deal reached between the NSW Government and Telstra,” Mr Gulaptis said. The NSW Government are also investing an extra $120 million of COVID-19 stimulus funding into regional schools through the Regional Renewal Program, improving school infrastructure and providing much needed work for local tradies. Schools will be contacted by the Department of Education to learn more about the program. The Minister also announced a new campaign to supports schools and students to succeed in mathematics. “This campaign is aiming to encourage parents and students to embrace mathematics at school to build a solid foundation for life. The campaign includes support for parents through a new resource hub, Everyday Maths,” Minister Mitchell said. The hub, Everyday Maths, is available at www.education.nsw.gov.au/everyday-maths. Chris Gulaptis and the Minister visited South Grafton, Grafton and Gulmarrad Primary Schools and Maclean High School. “We were greeted with much enthusiasm and pride by individual school leaders and learnt a lot from our conversations with them. “We were also treated with some first class performances by students and were also greeted with a wonderful acknowledgement of Country in Bundjalung language and a Didgeridoo performance by Grafton Public School student, Lennox Monaghan on our arrival,” Mr Gulaptis said.