Maitland parents and politicians have urged the state government not to forget about the Hunter’s kids after the Education Minister announced a $5 billion plan to address overcrowding in public schools.
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Education Minister Rob Stokes’ announced earlier on Thursday that a new body, Education Infrastructure NSW, would oversee the delivery of classrooms and resources to the public school system as it braces for a 21 per cent (164,000 student) surge by 2031.
Labor’s education spokesman Jihad Dib and Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison met with concerned members of Rutherford Public School’s P&C outside the school on Thursday afternoon.
With the majority of the growth predicted to take place in Sydney, P&C vice president Cassandra Tipping said she was worried the government’s plan would leave the Hunter in the cold.
“Our school was built for 14 classrooms, we now have 35,” Ms Tipping said.
“We need new classrooms, 15 of ours are demountibles, the majority of these are up the back of the school and three are taking up playground space. [Classrooms up the back] have no covered walkways, and no nearby toilets.”
According to the MySchool website Rutherford Public School has more than 800 students and 32 teachers.
Ms Tipping said the overcrowding is impacting students, including her two children, in a myriad of ways.
“They can’t all fit in the school hall,” she said.
“We had kindergarten, stage one, stage two and stage three end of year assemblies. Four assemblies.”
Ms Tipping had a clear message for the government.
“Don’t forget about us in the Hunter. Our kids are just as important as those in Sydney,” she said.
Ms Aitchison said many schools in the Maitland area were struggling because of overcrowding.
“West Maitland is growing very quickly and the existing public primary school at Rutherford is not coping with demand,” she said.
“This government is treating Maitland students like Sydney’s poor cousins with the current demountable classrooms situated a distance away from toilet facilities, a real safety issue particularly for younger students in wet weather.”
Ms Aitchison reiterated Labor’s promise from the last election that it would build a new school at Aberglasslyn and urged the government to do the same.
In a joint statement, Mr Dib and Ms Aitchison said the government had a responsibility to provide public education infrastructure to the communities west of Maitland.
“The Minister for Education has today announced a plan to spend money on fixing crowded schools,” Mr Dib said.
“He needs to commit to ensuring growing communities like west Maitland get a new school.”
Fairfax Media has contacted Mr Stokes’ office for comment.