Govt unveils first steps in $1.3b revamp for ageing schools
The Government is pouring millions of dollars into rebuilding ageing schools.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins made the announcement yesterday at Auckland’s Northcote College, which will receive $48.5 million as part of the package to refurbish buildings, build a new gym and upgrade 20 classrooms.
“Families rightly expect their children to be able to learn in warm, dry and comfortable classrooms, and we are working hard to make that happen as a major contributor to New Zealand being the best country in the world to bring up a child,” Ardern said.
The schools are part of a new National School Redevelopment Programme, a co-ordinated plan to upgrade about 180 schools over the next decade.
The first wave includes about 40 schools and has a budget of up to $1.3 billion.
Yesterday’s announcement included $33.5m for Wanaka’s Mt Aspiring College, adding to $13m received in 2017 to continue a project to replace relocatable classrooms and better configure the site for future growth.Twizel Area School will receive $21m for a rebuild, including replacing existing relocatable classrooms that are up to 49 years old and in poor condition.
Spotswood College in New Plymouth is to receive $23m for a redevelopment, including replacing classrooms which are in poor condition.
The Northcote funding will add to $11.5m it received in 2018 to replace old, end-of-life buildings with weathertightness issues.
Design work at Northcote will start soon, and construction early next year.
Hipkins said the four projects, and the $32m for Lower Hutt’s Taita College announced recently, would also be a “major boost to regional economies”.
Families rightly expect their children to be able to learn in warm, dry and comfortable classrooms. Jacinda Ardern