Stimulus boost for school upgrades

STUDENTS returning to Elizabeth College for term two will notice some unexpected improvements.

The Hobart school’s library is being upgraded with a grant from State Government stimulus spending.

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the $10 million program was designed to deliver much-needed school maintenance and to underwrite local jobs.

The program will deliver fire services, roofing, electrical safety, switchboard upgrades, lighting upgrades, painting, flooring, asbestos removal, lift maintenance and resurfacing services at schools statewide.

“Over the next two or three months we’ll be rolling out $2.8 million worth of education infrastructure,” he said.

“This will be keeping small and medium businesses employing Tasmanians but also upgrading vital education infrastructure to support our staff principals and, of course, our students as well.

“The Government will do everything it can to rebuild the economy and support jobs while also delivering on vital maintenance projects.”

Scott Bellinger from ETCS Electrical and Fire, which is upgrading fire safety systems at the college, said the program had meant he was able to keep all of his 70 workers employed.

“Like all businesses currently we have had to make some hard decisions, but I can say with no hesitation that without the proactive support from the Tasmanian Government and especially the Department of Education our business would be in a dire situation.”

Elizabeth College principal Diane Purnell said the money had enabled the college to bring forward much-needed work that wasn’t within its existing budget.

“Every principal will tell you that maintaining their buildings is a huge expense on their budget, and a site like we’ve got, with buildings of all different ages, we’re continually needing to prioritise our spending, so any additional funding is going to support us,” Dr Purnell said.

The program will deliver 280 projects across 125 sites.