Page 4179 - Week 13 - Thursday, 14 December 2006
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In this financial year alone, that means over 220 projects in 70 schools across the territory. That means new science laboratories, new arts rooms, upgraded play and sports areas; and much-needed improvements to the look of schools. The government will also be investing $20 million into information technology. This investment will help us meet the education needs of students in the 21st century and prepare them for life beyond school. As I have indicated in this place before, broadband connections will be upgraded to every public school in the ACT. That is an Australian first.
New schools will be built as part of this package. A new $23 million school for Harrison is to open in 2008; a new $45 million school for west Belconnen is to open in 2009; and a new college for Gungahlin is to open in 2010. Yesterday we built on this investment by announcing a new state-of-the-art $54 million school, P to 10, to open in Tuggeranong in 2011. This school will provide a modern facility to serve the needs of students in Tuggeranong now and into the future. This is a further example of the Stanhope government’s commitment to seeing state-of-the-art, modern schools in established areas of Canberra as well as in the developing areas.
As a government, we refuse to accept that students and teachers should work in surroundings that would be unacceptable in other workplaces. That is why we will invest the money that is needed to ensure that our classrooms are worthy of the students and staff that work in them.
Schools in more established areas will also be receiving capital upgrades. For example, we are going to be building a new hall at Chapman primary school, opening up more space for classrooms in this very popular school. We will be upgrading the playground at Calwell primary school. We are going to be upgrading the electrical systems of all schools to bring them up to modern standards. We will be giving them all a good lick of paint. Campbell high school and Ainslie primary school will undergo major older school upgrades, being the refurbishment of classrooms. Lyneham high school will have improvements done to photography rooms, their canteen and science laboratories.
Students with a disability will be assisted with a new lift at Turner primary school. At Alfred Deakin high school the science laboratories will be upgraded, as will those at Canberra high school. Canberra high school will also see upgrades to its home science area. And so it continues for so many schools this financial year—and this is just year one of our investment package. All Canberra schools will be upgraded by the end of the four-year program.
We are also going to use some of the $90 million to better equip our schools for the environmental challenges we will be facing in the years ahead. It is our intention that, where possible, schools will seek to reduce both their running costs and their environmental footprint through sustainable design principles and retrofitting. We will take the lead in our community on ensuring the sustainability of our schools. We can already see some of these initiatives in action at schools across the territory. The government will continue to invest, to ensure we have schools that are sustainable and that students, parents and the community are proud of them.
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