2 days ago
Plans for Canberra school expansion changed after data shows enrolments won't surge as predicted
A school community has voiced dismay after the ACT government walked back its pre-election promise to deliver a $50 million school expansion.
The government told Majura Primary School in Canberra's Inner North it would instead get a $20 million modernisation project owing to fewer projected enrolments.
There are now questions being raised over how the government determines the likely demand on a school.
Majura Primary P&C convener Rachael Brown said the government had initially told the school, which has about 670 primary students, it would grow to about 1,000.
That number was then "drastically" revised down to about 700.
"When we asked questions about the modelling, we weren't able to get any details," Dr Brown said.
"We're very frustrated."
She said the children complained they had nowhere to play and the school felt overcrowded.
"Earlier this year, our kindergarten children had to have their health checks in our preschool's office because there's no spare room at our school," Dr Brown said.
"Multiple classrooms were above the safe standard for heating and cooling in summer.
"And some of those students, including my own child, ended up doing their school work in the principal's office because there was nowhere else for them to do their work.
"None of the classes are above the student-to-teacher ratio but the actual space in the room is significantly less than [the ACT Education Directorate's] own standards are for a new school.
"It's just completely unacceptable."
Education Minister Yvette Berry said the school's expansion plans were based on pre-COVID projections that suggested a boom in enrolments.
In making "informed guess work", she said the government used demographers, immigration figures and Australian Bureau of Statistics birthing data, as well as other sources.
She said enrolment projections were revised down before the last election.
Despite that, the government promised the $50 million expansion for Majura Primary School in its re-election campaign.
She said the directorate and Infrastructure Canberra were consulting with the school about what their modernisation project might look like.
And while demand in the priority enrolment areas of some schools is projected to drop, that's not the case across the board.
Ms Berry said Shirley Smith High School in East Gungahlin was expected to see growth.
The $30 million reduction in promised funding for Majura Primary raised concerns among other school communities expecting investments.
Ms Berry has sought to allay those fears, reiterating a previous promise to "upgrade and modernise" Lyneham High School's hall.
She also said Charnwood Dunlop School would still get a new playground.
"I understand people thinking that things will all happen in the [first year's budget] but that's not possible."
She said her pre-election promise to invest $150 million in projects across government schools would happen, including $30 million for heating and cooling upgrades.
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson, whose electorate includes Majura Primary School, said he had written to Ms Berry seeking more information about how enrolment projections come about.
He said he wondered whether there was less demand on public schools because people were seeing more value in Canberra's independent institutions.
"I'm a bit concerned that we've not seen sufficient investment in school infrastructure in a timely way and that might be contributing to reduced enrolment numbers," Mr Emerson said.
"I've spoken with parents who have children at Majura Primary and other schools … who are really conflicted.
"They really believe in public education, but they have the means to make a different choice and they don't know what to do.
