Jack Tame: Governments alternative plan with school builds

It's been inevitable for months now that the Ministry of Education would lose responsibility for building and maintaining schools and at first glance the government's onto a winner with its alternative plan. 

The review into the state of school facilities shows only a third of the almost-500 building projects in the Ministry of education queue have been fully funded and concludes the average cost of a new classroom could rise to $1.8m over the next few years. 

"That is unsustainable," it says. If indeed that price is accurate, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who disagrees.

Obviously not every school is the same, there are different environmental, geological and topographical challenges that distinguish different locations, and no one is expecting a 100% standardized building model for every single classroom across the country.

But a greater degree of standardization makes sense and more than anything, a new system might allow for that most important quality: transparency. At the moment, it's not always clear why some school builds are prioritized over others. Schools are pushed up and down the list at the mercy of political whims.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I think it's been inevitable for months now that the
Ministry of Education would lose responsibility for building and maintaining schools,
and at first glance, the government's onto a winner with
its alternative plan. So the review into the state of
school facilities shows only a third of the almost five
hundred building projects in the Ministry of Education Q have

(00:20):
been fully funded and concludes that the average cost of
a new classroom could rise to one point eight million
dollars over the next few years. That's not a classroom block,
that's a single classroom. One point eight million dollars. That
is unsustainable, says the report, quote unquote, and if indeed
that price is accurate, you would have to be I

(00:42):
think crazy to disagree. One point eight million is fascical. Now, obviously,
not every school is the same. There are different environmental, geological,
topographical challenges that distinguish different locations, and no one is
expecting a one hundred percent standardized building model for every
single classroom across the country. But a greater degree of

(01:03):
standardization makes sense, of course it does, and more than anything,
a new system might allow for that most important quality transparency.
See at the moment, it is not always clear why
some school builds are prioritized over others. Schools are pushed
up and down the list at the mercy of political
and whatever other whims, and that can't continue. Schools and

(01:27):
school communities need clarity, They need certainty in any system
that can provide that while improving our classroom stock and
improving the learning environments for our kids has got to
be a good thing. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.
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