Announcing the initiative in Geraldton, Liberal Leader Colin Barnett said every child in Western Australian had an equal right to a quality education and the opportunity to fully realise their potential, no matter where they lived and which school they attended.

Mr Barnett said a Liberal Government would increase the State's contribution to the allowance from $1215 to $2000 per student, per year.

"Living in a state as vast as Western Australia, many students reside great distances from a primary or secondary school," he said.

"Residential colleges and boarding schools provide a fundamental service for those families who want their children to undertake their education at a school rather than by correspondence or distance education.

"This initiative will help these families meet the financial challenges they face in the cost of boarding."

Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier said the allowance applied to eligible primary and secondary students who were enrolled in government and non-government boarding schools, residential colleges and Western Australian Colleges of Agriculture in Perth and regional areas.