LOCAL councils and developers could bear the cost of school facilities in a new state government plan to tackle overcrowding in NSW schools.
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In a bold move on Thursday, Education Minister Rob Stokes announced a new unit that would oversee the planning, supply and maintenance of government schools.
The minister said Education Infrastructure NSW was established to ensure there was sufficient learning spaces for schools with a projected blow-out in student numbers of up to 21 per cent, by 2031.
The agency will also be tasked with implementing joint community use and partnership models to provide cost-effective and community-focused solutions.
This could include striking agreements between regional councils and developers, to contribute to funding for infrastructure to be jointly used by communities and schools.
Regional P&C chairwoman Rachael Sowden said the overcrowding problem wasn’t “Sydney-centric” with many local schools edging closer to 1000 students per campus.
“I think it (school infrastructure) then becomes a bit of blame shifting,” Dr Sowden said.
“Councils are already struggling to make sure they have facilities for the community, but I believe there is already things in place to ensure council facilities are available for schools. This reduces the government’s requirement to provide what their mandate is in education.
“There are also concerns about the reduced areas of play space in schools, particularly for schools that are currently overcrowded, or at capacity. Will the lack of outdoor space lead to having to have staggered lunch breaks, or more playground incidents?”