AN EDUCATION task force has been proposed by Southern Downs deputy mayor Jo McNally as a way to bring more residents to the region.

At the final 2016 council meeting yesterday, Cr McNally proposed the group be formed to better promote existing education facilities and identify new opportunities.

"We have excellent education in the Southern Downs and we need to be more proactive to better market it and develop a strategy to further education," she said.

"The education industry is a large employer across the Southern Downs, and a major factor families consider when relocating to the region, and we need to ensure the sector continues to grow and deliver opportunities.

"This includes tertiary education, such as at the TAFE South West Campus here in Warwick.

"We have seen successful partnerships between the University of Southern Queensland and TAFE in the Toowoomba area and I would suggest we could do the same here, particularly in terms of agriculture which is the largest industry in our region.

"The task force would ideally include representatives from USQ and the Department of Education and Training and Southern Downs principals, with the aim of promoting education in the region."

Mayor Tracy Dobie also flagged the Queensland College of Wine Tourism and the Hermitage and Applethorpe research facilities as areas to boost tertiary education opportunities.

The task force proposal came after councillors voted to make a submission to the Education Department about the proposed closure of Tannymorel State School due to low enrolments.

Cr McNally said while councillors would like to see the school used by the Tannymorel community for other purposes for a short time, in case enrolments increased as more school kids entered the region, this was looking unlikely.

"We had this decree before and now the school being shut down is in our sights," she said.

"The idea for the task force came from a meeting held between the council and secondary school principals in Warwick, but the Tannymorel closure highlighted the need for us to be proactive in this area.

"In future we want to be on top of these things before they actually happen."

Cr McNally's colleagues were quick to support the proposal.

Councillors Cameron Gow and Vic Pennisi both said a task force would be helpful to build upon the existing meetings of high school staff in the Stanthorpe district.

Cr Dobie said the group was still in its infancy.

"The next step will be for the CEO (David Keenan) to make contact with school principals and Department of Education and form an agenda for a first meeting," Cr Dobie said.

"This is all about how council can work with educators in our region and the Department of Education to get more students in our schools.

"Unlike council's advisory committees, a task force has a specific goal and, once that goal has been achieved, the task force would no longer be required to meet, save for perhaps a yearly review.

"We understand most parents would have made up their minds about the 2017 school year so we will be looking at what we can do to lift student enrolment for 2018.

"This is all part of the big picture of our regional plan and what want our region to look like in 25 years time and, while we're still in the early stages, it is something I am very excited about," Cr Dobie said.