State schools will receive an extra $7 billion from the Andrews government over five years after Victoria grudgingly signed up to the Gonski 2.0 funding deal.

Signalling the end of a bitter and protracted dispute, Victorian Education Minister James Merlino has finally inked a school funding agreement with the Commonwealth.

Victoria has finally signed up to the Gonski 2.0 agreement in a move that will see the state government pump an additional $7 billion into state schools Credit:Eddie Jim

Mr Merlino said while the deal he signed on Friday treated state school students unfairly, schools needed certainty.

“We simply have no choice in signing this agreement, we must provide schools with funding certainty moving forward and we will not put them at risk of missing out on all federal school funding,” he told the Sunday Age.