Source: New Zealand Government
The Government is accelerating $413 million of investment in school infrastructure to improve classrooms and provide a significant boost for builders and tradies across New Zealand immediately, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
“Every child deserves to learn in a warm, dry and safe classroom.
“We have a significant pipeline of maintenance work to keep our schools in great shape, but we’re accelerating $413 million of projects so they can get underway sooner.
“This will enable schools to do significant maintenance over the coming summer holidays, and support more rural and isolated schools to upgrade their infrastructure.
“This is great news for schools and communities that will benefit for better learning spaces, but it will also power up the trade and construction sectors, creating a steady flow of jobs for builders, plumbers, roofers and more.
The investment package will consist of:
- $58 million for operating maintenance work for all schools.
- $255 million for internal and external improvements on all isolated, small and rural schools, representing half of all state schools.
- $100 million over five years for urgent and essential infrastructure work.
“This significant investment highlights our Government’s commitment to our young people and their education, but also but a willingness to stimulate important parts of our economy that need it.
“This work was always going to be needed to ensure that existing infrastructure doesn’t end up with bigger problems down the track. We’re bringing it forward to support our schools, and our tradespeople now.
“Our Government has turned around the delivery of school property. We’ve halved the cost of a new classroom from $1.2 million to $620,000, the Ministry of Education is now generating more cost-savings by focusing on offsite manufacturing solutions, and communication with schools has improved.
“Our focus remains on driving efficiencies across the school property portfolio, so parents, teachers and communities have clarity and certainty about their school’s future,” Ms Stanford says.
The $413 million package consists of $58 million of new money, $100 million from Budget 24, $80 million of Ministry of Education Baseline, and $175 million of brought-forward funding.
