School building plea as Melbourne population spike looms

A total of 460 school buildings will need to be constructed to ­accommodate an extra 150,000 students on Melbourne’s fringe.

A total of 460 school buildings will need to be constructed to ­accommodate an extra 150,000 students on Melbourne’s fringe over the next 15 years due to unprecedented population growth.

A report commissioned by the Interface Councils, a group representing the 10 outer-fringe councils of Melbourne, and conducted by Essential Economics, pred­icted there would be 149,680 extra ­enrolments in primary and secondary schools and 9970 extra in kindergarten and preschools between 2016 and 2031. The estimated cost of catering for the enrolments was $1.58 billion. The report also found growth areas were characterised by “relatively low educational outcomes” compared with the rest of Melbourne.

Several mayors have warned the state government is “falling well behind their own benchmarks” when it comes to providing schools in areas with rapid growth, and have expressed scepticism that current commitments on school spending will be enough.

“The Victorian government is falling well behind their own benchmarks for providing schools in Wyndham. This means large numbers of families are moving in before their kids have a local school to go to. Our children deserve better than this,” Wyndham Mayor Peter Maynard said.

“We are hopeful more local schools will be funded in the budget, but it’s unlikely they will be enough to fix the problem. Melbourne is Australia’s fastest-growing city and Wyndham has the highest population growth in Victoria. A handful of schools isn’t going to cut it.”

Hume Mayor Drew Jessop said: “I think in fairness to all levels of government, growth has ­exceeded expectations and that’s the problem we are facing now. All governments have to accelerate their investment.”

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said the government was undertaking the “biggest school building program in our state’s history” and had committed $353.2 million to build and plan for 28 schools in growth suburbs. A Department of Education spokesman said: “About one-third of students enrol at non-government schools, which are largely funded privately.”