BOOM, NEARLY OUT OF ROOM

Population growth has some schools ‘bursting at seams’

THE Gold Coast’s education sector is struggling to keep pace with our population boom, with some schools pleading for a funding lifeline as they near capacity.

Latest enrolment data from Education Queensland shows the student population has surged up to 45 per cent in four years at schools as 800 extra children enrol each year.

Gold Coast Teachers Union representative Jo Walsh said schools were keeping up with the need – but only just.

“It feels like we are bursting at the seams,’’ she said.

A new high school will open next year in Coomera and one is planned for Pimpama, to cope with the city’s booming northern corridor.

Ms Walsh said the boom was putting pressure on teacher numbers and the Queensland Government estimated an additional 3700 teachers would be needed in the next four years.

SOME public schools are “bursting at the seams” as the city’s education sector wrestles to keep pace with the population boom.

The latest enrolment data from Education Queensland shows the student population has spiked up to 45 per cent in four years at schools as 800 extra children enrol each year.

The city’s student population has increased more than 11 per cent in the past five years, far outstripping the state-wide average and prompting the State Government to spend more than $240 million on infrastructure on the Coast over two years.

Numbers have exploded in the city’s booming northern corridor, where new schools have been earmarked. However, some inner-city schools are awaiting a funding lifeline as they near capacity.

“We are keeping up with the need – just,” Gold Coast Teachers Union representative Jo Walsh said. “It feels like we are bursting at the seams.

“It is great news we have a new high school opening next year in Coomera and one planned for Pimpama and these new schools are very, very needed but I would suggest existing school facilities are often lacking.”

One of those established schools, Palm Beach State, grew 13 per cent last year and, on its present growth, will reach capacity within a year. No State Government funding has been forecast.

It is a similar situation for Currumbin State School, which is at 91 per cent capacity.

This year alone, an extra 800 children enrolled on the Coast, meaning 29 of the city’s 65 state schools were at 80 per cent capacity or more.

Ms Walsh said a majority of Gold Coast schools were already on management plans, which restricted enrolment to its catchment area only.

“It is not uncommon for temporary classrooms to be arranged before long-term funding is made,” she said.

The State Government is spending $165,352 this financial year on demountables for at least seven schools.

Ms Walsh said the boom was putting pressure on teacher numbers and the Queensland Government estimated an additional 3700 teachers would be needed in the next four years.

“A schools census is taken at Day 8 and funding for staff is allocated, which means those schools which continue to grow throughout the year struggle to get additional staff needed,” she said.

Nan Bahr, the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Dean of Education at Southern Cross University, said parents shouldn’t be concerned about the Coast’s mega schools.

“A larger school population also means more variety for students, and more chances to craft their education to their needs.”

Education Minister Grace Grace, who last month turned the first sod on the new $64 million high school at Coomera, said the Government was aware of the Coast’s needs.

“The Department of Education monitors enrolment data and population trends to ensure our state schools can deal with any anticipated increase in enrolments,” she said. “New schools will be built if population growth warrants it like, for example, in Coomera and Pimpama and at Coomera East, where we opened Picnic Creek State School in 2018.”

The minister did not rule out building up at inner-city schools.

“These are decisions made on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

“Parents should not be concerned in enrolments if their child’s school is approaching the school’s built capacity. The Palaszczuk Government is investing $240 million on new and expanded schools across the Gold Coast to ensure schools can continue to cater for enrolment growth.”

THE education and health sectors on the Gold Coast are thriving as the city diversifies from the traditional pillars of tourism and construction.

As the Bulletin has previously reported, knowledge is power. But the city is at risk of losing that thrust if the State Government does not stay on top of our ballooning student numbers and provide schools with the adequate resources.

Like our roads, our classes are “busting at the seams”.

In 2015, prominent demographer Bernard Salt said the Gold Coast needed 35 new schools – or to greatly increase existing campuses – by 2050 to maximise its potential as an education and health leader. A year earlier, the Queensland Schools Planning Commission said up to 71 new schools were needed statewide in 2021-31 to meet demand.

Broken down, the findings showed the Coomera-Pimpama area would have two new secondary schools by 2031, and a solution was needed for growth in Helensvale and Hope Island.

Figures obtained from the Department of Education today again reinforce why.

The Gold Coast Teachers’ Union says “we are keeping up with the need – just”, particularly in the northern corridor where a new high school will open next year and a $60 million primary school is earmarked for Yawalpah Rd, Pimpama.

But the forecast is most alarming for well-established schools in the inner city. On current growth, Palm Beach State School will reach capacity within a year. It has ballooned by 45 per cent in four years and its growth will become more intense as higher-density developments take shape.

Currumbin and Park Lake state schools are two others nearing capacity without forecast funding to ease the burden.

The State Government says it is closely monitoring the city’s state school network to prevent an armageddon.

However, it cannot afford to be reactionary. Education presents a terrific opportunity for growth on the Gold Coast and vision and spending need to be the forefront.