It’s a sign of changing times.
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The State government has recognised that the diversity and disparity within its schools can no longer be managed by one department.
On Thursday, NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes announced a new unit to manage infrastructure and maintenance issues in campuses across the state.
The government says Education Infrastructure NSW will ensure there is sufficient learning spaces for students, with the student population in government schools expected to grow by 21 per cent by 2031.
In announcing the new unit, the government also announced it would explore partnerships with local councils and developers in a bid to share funding for infrastructure that could be used by both the schools and their communities.
Regional P&C federation president Dr Rachael Sowden says the government is “blame shifting” and looking to offload the costs to councils.
Is she onto something here?
She believes councils are already struggling to provide necessary facilities on their own, and this could place an added burden on councils that are less resourced than others.
Mrs Sowden says the overcrowding problem in schools is not just a Sydney one, with many schools in the New England region edging close to 1000 students.
We think projected growth is a good reason for a department like this to be established.
Earlier this month, this newspaper published figures about a maintenance backlog blow-out in our schools.
Data obtained by Labor MLC Daniel Mookhey revealed Tamworth High School had one of the highest maintenance backlogs in the state.
He claimed by the time the existing backlog is cleared, the school’s current year seven students would be “well into their early 30s”. Mr Mookhey said data revealed the region’s maintenance backlog was $28.04 million, however the region had the lowest maintenance contingency fund in NSW, of $424,548.
If the figures Mr Mookhey is quoting are correct, than perhaps the government is on the money with its new plan. Any government unit or resource, no matter how big or small, is a step closer to clearing the maintenance wait lists at our schools and giving students the learning environments they deserve.