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Education | June 06, 2018

Adjournment - Warracknabeal education precinct

Victorian Parliament - 6 June 2018 - Ms KEALY - My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is that immediate funding be provided to complete the Warracknabeal education precinct. Labor have completely botched this project, providing a fraction of the required funding to rebuild Warracknabeal Special Developmental School (SDS) and Warracknabeal Secondary College on the Warracknabeal Primary School site. Only a third of the SDS has been funded and just half of the secondary college. As a result, at the end of this year educators and school community leaders will have to make the impossible decision to move to a new building which is far too small to deliver the educational requirements of young students, work across multiple campuses where there simply are not enough staff to provide for the educational needs of all students, or just stay put in decrepit buildings and leave the new school buildings sitting empty until the required funding for this important infrastructure flows. This is a huge disappointment for this great rural community who just want the best for their children.

Despite assurances the Premier gave the Warracknabeal school community when he visited in 2017, stating that ‘We’re getting on with delivering the services that families need to give their children the best education’, the Premier has left these families high and dry with a third of a new SDS and half of a secondary college. I therefore ask the minister to get on with the job of delivering a brighter future for country kids and to provide immediate funding to complete the Warracknabeal education precinct.