‘An enormous step backwards’
The Government’s announcement that planned new co-located colleges are under review is a blow for Marlborough and it is not something I am prepared to accept.
I raised the topic in the House and made it very clear that the reasons and arguments for building our new schools are compelling.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins himself said that $200 million of school buildings nationwide are not fit for purpose, and both our colleges firmly fall under that category.
The life of an NZ school building is considered to be 50 years. Marlborough Boys’
College’s existing two-storey main building was built in the mid-1930s and the John Stewart block in 1939-40. Though renovations have taken place since then, these buildings are well past the 50-year lifespan and we also know some areas have earthquake issues and plumbing problems that are simply uneconomic to fix.
Marlborough Girls’ College was established in 1963 and has leaky buildings. Neither school, but particularly MBC, is able to be modified to accommodate modern flexible learning spaces, which have been shown to provide successful outcomes for many students.
Our community has already been consulted extensively, and the overwhelming public view was to relocate two new schools onto one new site.
We decided that two schools on one site give the opportunity for more choice, particularly in the arts and languages, which are not viable otherwise, and would provide for innovative ways to keep students engaged in modern learning.
The community’s views were collated and a plan was made. Yet now we face this review which will take five weeks and can only be considered an enormous and unnecessary step backwards.
This, despite the fact that since Labour began working on their budget, they have gained half a billion dollars more. That extra money is due to a tax windfall because the economy is doing extremely well, thanks to the management of the National Government.
When an economy is doing well, more people and businesses pay tax.
Not only that, but under National the education budget went from $8 billion to $11b a year, and $4.85b was set aside for infrastructure in the education sector.
As I told the House, Hipkins needs to man up and do his job, which is to make decisions and move things forward. Our community does not want to be left hanging; it does not want another review.
I am holding a public meeting on May 6 at 4.30pm and urge everyone to come along to ensure our community is heard. We want our co-located colleges.