$21m for more Auckland classrooms
Auckland schools are getting more classrooms as a result of a $21 million government boost.
A government report in May revealed 214 schools around the country were considered over capacity, while 488 were at risk of becoming overcrowded.
Education Minister Nikki Kaye was in Auckland on Thursday to announce where the money would be directed.
Eight schools in Auckland will get 41 new classrooms. These include 34 for roll growth and seven replacement classrooms.
Four of the schools getting new classrooms are in central Auckland.
Dominion Road School, Meadowbank School and Onehunga Primary School will each get four new classrooms. While St Thomas School will get nine new classrooms.
Rowandale School in Manurewa, the second most crowded in Auckland, is getting six new classrooms.
Kaye visited the school on Friday. She said the Government would deliver a total of 21,000 new student places for Auckland schools by 2021.
Kaye said the ministry had a priority list which looked closely at school property needs and roll growth.
Rowandale School principal Karl Vasau said he was ’’very happy’’ about the new spaces.
‘‘We were in a real dire situation,’’ he said.
National List MP Parmjeet Parmar said the increased funding for Dominion Rd school was good for the Mt Roskill community.
‘‘This is a fantastic investment in the education of Mt Roskill children,’’ Parmar said.
The four new classrooms would accommodate roll growth and help young people learn in a comfortable and modern environment, she said.
Tamaki MP Simon O’Connor said there had been a need for more classrooms in Tamaki schools with fast growing rolls.
‘‘We recognise that Auckland is one of our fastest growing cities, and we’re committed to creating extra capacity in schools to support this. The new roll growth classrooms will provide around 680 additional student places across Auckland to help schools with growing rolls.’’
The investment was part of a $240m investment allocated for Auckland school infrastructure in the 2017 Budget, he said.
The funding came after Stonefields School was granted $20m to provide 450 additional student places.