- Keegan Thomson
Western Sydney schools at breaking point
THE Baird Government is failing to provide the classrooms needed for western Sydney’s
population growth according to the State Opposition.
New data obtained by the NSW Opposition under a freedom of information request revealed a third of NSW classrooms have either reached or are well above capacity.
In Blacktown the most overcrowded schools are Coreen Public School at Blacktown (110 per cent capacity), William Rose School (107 per cent capacity) at Seven Hills and Blacktown South Public School (103 per cent capacity capacity).
Across the electorates of Londonderry, Penrith and Mulgoa there were 25 schools at 100 per cent capacity, and across the Blacktown there were 15 more schools faced with the same situation.
According to the Opposition many more schools across the west are housing more students than they could handle.
MP for Londonderry, Prue Car has criticised what she says is the government’s lack of dedication to the west, saying the Baird Government has fallen short in delivering school in those regions that desperately need it.
“The Baird Government has fallen so far behind in delivering new classrooms in the booming regions of Sydney that it will take at least 45 years to catch up,” Ms Car said.
She again drew attention to the promised school in Jordan Springs, something which the government ran as an election promise but have yet to deliver on.
“We have been promised a new school in Jordan Springs to start taking pressure off local schools, but the Government is refusing to say when construction will begin,” she said.
With the rise in student numbers and the lack of classroom space, schools that are above capacity have to make the decision to either place more demountable classrooms on shrinking school space or continue teaching in overcrowded classrooms.
“Children in Western Sydney are being crammed into classrooms like battery hens because the Baird Government can’t keep a promise,” Ms Car said.
“The Government needs to do more than talk about fixing the overcrowding crisis; it needs to build the classrooms the community desperately needs.”
At the beginning of the month, Premier Mike Baird announced 40 more classrooms would be built at five different schools across western Sydney, Blacktown would missed out.