$5.5b indigenous reforms 'at risk' The promise of $5.5 billion to narrow the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students will be at risk if the states do not sign up to the Gillard government's plan for school improvement, Schools Minister Peter Garrett has warned. More than $200 million is earmarked to improve the results of about 11,500 indigenous students in more than 1500 Victorian schools under the plan that so far has been resisted by Premier Denis Napthine. The plan has been dubbed a potential "game-changer" by indigenous academic Professor Marcia Langton, provided it is properly backed. "If the public system is able to engage indigenous students at the primary and secondary level and lift completion rates, that would close the gap faster than any other initiative," Professor Langton told The Sunday Age. Figures to be released on Sunday show a special "indigenous loading" under the plan will mean an average of about $30,000 in extra funding for each of an estimated 200,000 indigenous students over a six-year transition to a new funding model. Mr Garrett said the plan would expand targeted funding that had dramatically improved results in some areas since 2009, and help close a gap in which the reading and numeracy skills of indigenous students are two to three years behind the average for non-indigenous students. "Education is the passport out of poverty for many indigenous students, yet we are still leaving thousands of kids behind," Mr Garrett said. New South Wales has shown the way by signing up to our plan and delivering a better deal for almost 54,000 Aboriginal students in that state. It's now up to other state and territory leaders to show they care about delivering a better future for young indigenous Australians, and sign up to our plan. The indigenous loading for 2014 ranges from $1854 per student - where only one Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child is enrolled at a primary school - to $14,631 per student in secondary schools where every student is indigenous. The biggest share of the funding will go to Queensland schools, where $1.6 billion will be allocated to some 55,000 indigenous students in 1555 schools over the six years. Of the rest, $1.3 billion would go to NSW schools; $1.1 billion to West Australian schools; $1 billion to schools in the Northern Territory; $300 million to South Australia; $100 million to Tasmania and $40 million to the ACT. Mr Garrett said he was encouraged by "some positive statements and movement" since the budget. I think we will see additional states coming on board in the coming weeks. It's clearly absolutely crucial for states to take this step. In the past we've had a series of stop-start programs which have ultimately not served the students as well as they could and the key thing about this plan is certainty of increased investment over time to enable proper planning and focused effort to support students," Mr Garrett said.