How we get ADF Veterans DVA-funded tutoring for their kids…

At ShieldTuition, we recognise the invaluable service of our veterans and help them transition to civilian life. One way we do this is by offering high-quality, one-on-one tutoring for the veterans’ children who are eligible for the Education Scheme. To ensure a smooth process of accessing the “additional tuition” funding for your child under this scheme, we have written this blog to guide you through our process.

What is the funding available?

The DVA recognises the impact that service in the ADF has on a child’s academic journey. Service can involve relocation, having a parent away for extended periods of time, or impairment that hinders the ability of a child to receive parental support. The DVA commenced the funding for '“additional tuition” in the early 2000s but revised it in 2017 and it became effective on the 1st of January 2018.

The DVA will grant a parent/ caregiver $3,500 of annual funding to students whose academic performance has been hindered because of a circumstance out of their control. This may include but is not limited to “students who have been absent from school for long period due to illness, who have transferred schools and are struggling to maintain their previous academic achievements, or who have experienced a loss of a parent or family member and this loss has impacted their studies”.

1. Eligibility

This funding is designed to ensure circumstances do not eventuate into a long-term disadvantage for the eligible child. Like many DVA claims, there are specific criteria that must be met by the caregiver for a child to be eligible for this funding. Find out whether you are eligible on our FAQs page.

Click here to see your eligibility >> https://www.shieldtuition.com.au/dvatutoring

Once you have established whether you are eligible, an education authority needs to report their observations about the academic status of your child. An education authority may include your child’s teacher or a year-level coordinator. DVA needs the education authority to establish that the child has the potential to improve academically with the support of additional tuition and agree with your observation(s) about the child’s academic potential. This can be seen in Part B of the additional tuition application form listed below.

Importantly, additional tuition funding falls under the Education Scheme so your child needs to first be approved for support under this scheme before you can apply for additional tuition.

2. Education authority observations

The additional tuition application form can be located here: Form number: D9212.

https://www.dva.gov.au/sites/default/files/dvaforms/d9212.pdf

3. Submit the form to the DVA.

DVA encourages parents to submit the form to the PO box however, this adds unnecessary steps and time to the application process. We recommend just emailing the form as a PDF, whether that means it was scanned or completed digitally, both will suffice.

The email address is:

• educationschemes@dva.gov.au

4. Arranging Tutoring

We are a professional tutoring organisation, so we have you covered. Once funding has been granted, we will arrange an amazing tutor who will comply with the DVA additional tuition requirements. The requirements are:

• specific invoice requirements

• working with children's card

• tutoring lesson plan

• report on the progress of the student

We take care of these requirements for you. They are a consideration in our DVA tutoring, pricing plans.