School airconditioning: New promise made as thousands sweat it out after target missed

Despite failing to get airconditioning into even half the number of schools it promised by the start of Term 1, The Palaszczuk Government has made a new pledge to take the heat off thousands of students. SEE THE FULL LIST OF SCHOOLS SET TO GET AIRCONDITIONING

Education Minister Grace Grace and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk have promised all school classrooms will be airconditioned in the next two years. Picture: AAP/Josh Woning

EVERY Queensland school classroom, library and staff room will be airconditioned in a policy backflip by the Palaszczuk Government.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement in a video posted to her Twitter feed this morning ahead of a press conference at a Brisbane high school.

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Ms Palaszczuk today promised an additional 330 schools will get airconditioning, on top of the 300 schools promised in November.

File picture: Nathanael Tran, Livia Fischer, School captain and Jess Tran celebrate playing with ice as Moorooka State School got half its class rooms air conditioned in November, 2018. File picture: AAP/Regi Varghese

The pledge comes despite earlier criticising an LNP policy to aircondition every Queensland school.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE FULL LIST OF SCHOOLS

“We will aircondition every state school in Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Every classroom, every library and every staff room.

“And we’ll deliver it within the next two years.”

It comes after Education Minister Grace Grace saying last year such a commitment would take up to a decade.

“It is a lot of money involved in this, we’re talking over $2 billion to do this program and then you can’t get it done overnight,” Ms Grace said in January last year.

“You’re probably look at least a five-to-10-year program to do that.”

The Government announced it was fast tracking its airconditioning program in late November, bringing forward $25 million to aircondition 301 schools it hoped could be done over the summer break.

But just 142 were complete by the time children went back to school in Term 1, with another 14 partially done at that time.

But Ms Grace said all tenders had been let.

“It was always a target,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said the mid 2022 date for air conditioning in all state schools was a deadline for installation.

Ms Grace said the $2 billion figure came from the Opposition and had been refuted by an audit conducted by her department.

“We have done it right. Tenders have to be let and they have to be done contractually,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I am very confident this will all be done within two years.”