Prep students in the Douglas region will miss out again on extra teacher aide, with no local state schools listed in the second round of State Government funding announced yesterday.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the boost forms part of $54 million, four-year teacher aide initiative. Round one provided 107 state schools with extra resources from the start of the 2013 school year. Yesterday, the Premier announced $6 million will provide an extra 69 with 2250 more teacher aide hours every week from the start of next year.

 Mr Langbroek said schools with multiple Prep classes and those with the greatest need had been targeted, with final allocations for each school still to be determined by Prep enrolments as at Day 8, 2014. It aims to support schools in low socio-economic and rural and remote communities.

Queensland’s Prepartory Year helps five year-olds make a smooth transition to Year 1.

The program provides more personalised attention from Prep teachers, which the Government said will lead to better reading progress, writing and social skills. State schools in the Cairns region to receive second round funding are Edge Hill, Fairview Heights, Mareeba, Trinity Beach and Weir.