Kids learn old-school
QUEENSLAND state schools have more temporary classrooms than ever and a third are more than 20 years old.
The number of “relocatable and hired buildings” hit 3112 at 1052 state primary and high schools in 2017, a Right to Information request has revealed. That is up from 3042 the year before and 2876 in 2015.
A request for the age of all demountable rooms was initially denied because the Department of Education and Training (DET) said it did not keep such records.
However, it then provided three figures stating 33.6 per cent of relocatable units were 21 years or older. Another 24.4 per cent were aged 11-20 years and 42 per cent were less than 10 years old.
A large proportion of the buildings are being used in growth corridors like the Gold Coast, where Benowa State High School tops the state with 19. Other Coast schools at Helensvale, Elanora, Coomera and Arundel have some of the highest counts in the state.
DET corporate services deputy director-general Jeff Hunt said it was “myth” demountables were inferior.
He said it was likely more would be used in future because it was an efficient way to expand schools quickly to meet demand and reduce buildings when student numbers decreased. New relocatable buildings cost up to $600,000, could be stacked to create multistorey buildings and were architecturally designed with modern fitouts and colour themes.
“It’s a myth to say the older the school building, the worse off the students,” he said. “Some of Queensland’s oldest state schools are also our most successful.
“We don’t want to be building permanent buildings that will sit empty as populations change.”