Five Otago primary schools struggling to house their pupils will receive a share of $1.158 million from the Government for building expansions to help them cope with their growing rolls.
Garston School (Garston), Maori Hill School (Dunedin), St Clair School (Dunedin), Abbotsford School (Dunedin) and Arrowtown School are among the 74 schools nationally which will receive $30 million to extend existing buildings.
The programme is part of the first allocation of property funding to schools under the Government's recently announced infrastructure package, Education Minister Anne Tolley announced yesterday.
"These schools now have the go-ahead to start work to redress their lack of space or need for new buildings," Mrs Tolley said.
Maori Hill School principal Alistair Campbell was delighted with the news, despite not yet being officially informed of how much money the school would receive.
"We've got a number of programmes that we've been planning and this will allow us to get the ball rolling on some of those.
"It's very exciting that we are able to action things sooner than anticipated," he said.
Another seven schools, which are not in Otago, will receive $11 million to replace buildings which are no longer economically viable to maintain.
Mrs Tolley said a ranking system was applied to ensure schools with the greatest need had their space deficiencies and building issues addressed first, regardless of school type.
Further programmes were likely to be announced later this year, she said.
"I am pleased to give these schools the opportunity to improve their properties to help them better manage roll increases, or to build new buildings when they are urgently required to replace outdated facilities," she said.
The Ministry of Education has agreed to the final design plan for the $21.5 million Wanaka Primary School, to be built at Scurr Heights, next to Mount Aspiring College.
The school will feature environmentally sustainable designs, such as CO2 airflow sensors, heat control systems, and an educational "eco" pod.
