The state government has dashed hopes that it may match Labor’s commitment to a new inner-west high school.
Education Minister Martin Dixon has written to the SKY High lobby group telling them analysis of the school network suggested there was already capacity to meet projected demand.
“I understand Labor has pledged $15 million to undertake a feasibility study to consider the merit of a pre-school to post-graduate education precinct in Footscray, which would then conditionally progress to master planning,” he wrote.
“This seems to be an excessive and convoluted approach.”
He called Labor’s commitment “uncosted, unplanned and undeliverable”.
SKY High president Melissa Horne said the announcement was disappointing given recent government figures showed the number of school-aged children in the Maribyrnong council area soaring from 12,382 now to 20,831 within 17 years.
“These figures show the question isn’t whether our kids need a new high school, it’s a question of when it should be built,” she said.
“It’s all well and good for the minister to criticise the opposition’s announcement, but it is nothing but a cynical attempt to divert attention from the fact that this government has committed nothing for the needs of SKY kids now and into the future.”
