Weeroona College Bendigo principal Leanne Preece said many parents would struggle to pay for their children's educational materials and programs this year.

“We have families coming in saying they’re not sure how they’re going to pay for computers and things,'' she said. “It will certainly make us look at our programs and have to modify them to make it possible for everyone to participate."

She said several other Bendigo principals were facing the same prospect.

“It’s had a widespread effect on all schools, we’re no different."

The allowance involved one-off payments of between $150 - $300 to parents on low incomes, to help pay for their children's schooling needs at the start of the year.

Parents could keep the money or opt for it to be given directly to schools.

The former government scrapped the allowance last year, but gave low socioeconomic schools a combined $42.5 million to compensate for the loss, saving about $40 million. 

However, Ms Preece said Weeroona College Bendigo's internal costings revealed the additional government money would cover one-third of the total amount families at the school previously received from the allowance.

She hoped the new government would review funding models to schools.

Education Minister James Merlino said the former government scrapped $1 billion in education funding and the Labor Party was working hard to "repair the damage inflicted by the Liberals".

He said the government was establishing a Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund to help schools pay for activities.

But he stopped short of reinstating the allowance.

"We can’t fix $1 billion worth of cuts straight away but we’ve been working hard from day one to repair our school system, and to help families meet the costs of education," he said.