Private schools to receive $12.7m in grants from the state government for building upgrades

The state government will contribute about $13m to infrastructure upgrades at private schools. See if your school is on the list of more than 100 schools.

Private schools across South Australia are set to receive a share of about $13m in government grants for building projects.

The state government grants are split about equally between the independent and Catholic sector, with schools receiving a share of about $6.3m each.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said “schools across the education sector need to undertake strategic capital planning to address current issues and support future needs”.

“Some non-government schools need to deal with enrolment pressures, manage accessibility concerns or update or replaces spaces that are no longer suitable,” Mr Boyer said.

“I acknowledge that, post pandemic particularly, the incredible increase in the cost of building schools is something that is acutely felt by every schooling sector.”

Mr Boyer said some private schools “would not be able to raise the funds” for capital works if they were not supported by government grants.

The state government has provided private schools with $11m, indexed annually, since 2018-19 for infrastructure upgrades.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said the upgrades will support future needs in private schools. Picture: Ben Clark

Catholic schools that will benefit from the funding include Our Lady of Grace at Glengowrie, with $2.6m for a new building with six classrooms to cater for enrolment demand.

Dominican School, at Semaphore, will receive $2.34m to restore its heritage listed convent building, which will become a central hub for its administration and also for refurbishment to create more classrooms.

St Joseph’s School at Barmera will create three new learning areas with a $800,000 grant.
More than 100 independent schools will receive funding this financial year, including Indie School Elizabeth with about $70,000 to install smart boards for classrooms and Muirden Senior College in Adelaide with $41,000 for upgrades to its student wellbeing hub’s kitchen space.

SA Commission for Catholic Schools chairman John Neate said the funding allowed them to make upgrades that have “benefited the students and communities immensely”.

Association of Independent Schools of SA Anne Dunstan said on average, parents and communities provided 80 per cent of capital funding for their schools and that the government support would improve infrastructure “particularly for the most educationally disadvantaged students”.