Zeke Dumbleton has only ever been taught in demountables.
The 10-year-old has attended Parramatta East Public School his whole life, and, apart from his kindergarten year, he has never had a classroom within the walls of the overcrowded western Sydney school.
Zeke Dumbleton, 10, and his mum, Greta, at Parramatta East Public School. Credit: Nick Moir
“Demountables are pretty much all he knows. He doesn’t really have anything to compare it to. It’s all he’s experienced,” his mother, Greta Dumbleton, said.
“It wasn’t obvious when the school started getting overcrowded, but there came a point where all the students couldn’t fit into the school hall. And that was when we realised the numbers had outgrown the infrastructure.”
Parramatta East Public School, like many schools in the region, has been over its student cap for years.
In 2024, the school was over by 300 students and it was one of the 28 per cent of schools in the Parramatta local government area that exceeded their cap by more than 100 students.
The Minns government is attempting to address the overcrowding plaguing schools around Parramatta. As part of a broader investment into schools in western Sydney, the state government has announced funding for a new three-storey building for the school that will include 24 new classrooms, a new library and new student toilets.
The upgrades will mean all 21 demountables will be removed, allowing for more play space for students, more parking and better pedestrian access.
Jenny Coleman, another parent at the school, is relieved to know her five-year-old son will be out of demountables by the time he’s in year 2.
“It’s a good school, just lacking the infrastructure. And the changes are exciting. I want my son to be proud of his school,” she said.
“Everything looks really dated. I visited the toilets once, and just thought, ‘Oh my God, they look the same as when I went to primary school 30 years ago’.”
The government has also announced upgrades to 15 other western Sydney schools, including at Carlingford West Public School, which currently has 74 demountables. The upgrades there will include the delivery of 56 new classrooms, a new hall, a library and a canteen and the removal of all the demountables.
A total investment of $3.6 billion will remove over 200 demountables from western Sydney schools over the next two years, including at Cumberland High School, Darcy Road Public School, Girraween Public School, Dundas Public School and Northmead Public School.
The works will increase the capacity at some of these schools. The state government has also pledged to build a new high school at Melrose Park, near Ermington.
Education Minister Prue Car said the demountables were only ever a “stopgap measure” but they had become a fixture in western Sydney schools due to “mismanagement and neglect”. NSW Labor pledged no school would have more than 50 per cent of students in demountables during its successful 2023 election campaign.
“We cannot rebuild public education across western Sydney overnight, but we are committed to finally delivering world-class facilities across western Sydney,” Car said.
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