The State Government has announced $64 million of cuts to the education system, set to take place in 2019.

Education Minister Sue Ellery said the measures, which include shutting the Schools of the Air program and closing six department camp sites, were necessary after the Upper House rejected the gold royalty increase.

Among the savings are:

* Six camp school sites run by the Department of Education will close. These are not the core business of education and there are other government and commercial providers of similar services.

* Schools of the Air (SOTA) will also close. The School of Isolated Distance Education (SIDE), which is the major provider of distance education for rural and regional students, will take over the provision of education services delivered by SOTA. This eliminates duplication.

* Tuart College will be repurposed and, while the site will be retained by the Department of Education, students will no longer be enrolled, pending a decision to be made on its future use.

* Program delivery at Canning College will change to deliver programs to overseas fee-paying students only, focusing on WA’s international education sector.

* Funding for Landsdale Farm School will cease, with the intention of finding an alternate provider for this community resource.

* Residential accommodation in Moora and Northam will close.

* Intake into the Level 3 classroom teacher program will be on hold until 2020.

* Funding for Gifted and Talented programs at 18 schools will be reduced by 25 per cent.

* Fees for holiday swimming lessons (VacSwim) will increase, after minimal changes to fees over the past 14 years. Fees for a 10-day program will increase from $13.50 to $30, or $20 for families with a concession card.

Ms Ellery said there was a need “do things differently” given the state of the budget.

“This has not been easy, but tough decisions have had to be made to get WA’s finances back on track to fix the mess left by the previous Liberal-National government.

“We’ve asked all parts of the community to help contribute to budget repair - the public sector, business, industry, individuals and families.

“Unfortunately, the Liberals and Nationals blocked a reasonable change to the gold royalty rate, and chose to protect profitable gold miners from doing their bit. This has meant other parts of the community, like education, have been forced to shoulder more of the burden.

“I understand this process is a difficult and challenging time, particularly for staff, and our biggest priority is to minimise any impact on students.”

Opposition Leader Mike Nahan said West Australian parents had every right to be angry and concerned about the cuts.

“It insults parents to say these cuts are about budget repair when the Treasurer last week admitted he had blown the budget within three months of bringing it down,” he said.

“The cuts had nothing to do with the former Government and everything to do with the out-of-control spending of the current Government.

“Our children’s education is being sacrificed to pay for Labor election promises such as a $112 million dollar revitalisation of the Port Hedland waterfront in the marginal seat of Pilbara, a $19 million wave farm in the marginal seat of Albany and a biomass farm and $20 million future fund in the marginal seat of Collie-Wellington.”

Nationals leader Mia Davies said the cuts to regional school, including the closure of the School of the Air and residential colleges in Moora and Northam, were a “cruel Christmas present” to country students.

“There is no good news for staff, students and families who rely on School of the Air, or attend the Northam or Moora residential colleges – they have been left facing the prospect of finding a new school or a new job,” she said.

“It is a disgraceful decision, especially when you contrast it with the $68 million inner-city school being trumpeted by the Premier and Education Minister just two days ago.”