Government to invest in three new schools

Education Minister Hekia Parata. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government plans to build three new schools to meet population growth in Auckland, Hamilton, and Queenstown and will open them in the first term of 2015.

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced the Government's response to a review of the $10 billion national school property portfolio this afternoon.

Government has set aside $134 million to support new schools, and $70m of this would be invested over the next two years in three primary schools - Ormiston Primary School in south Auckland, Endeavour Avenue Primary School in north Hamilton and Shotover Primary School in Queenstown.

The investment would create 65 new classrooms, most of them in Auckland.

The $134m in funding was committed in this year's Budget.

The investment was separate from the $1b committed to rebuilding the education sector in Christchurch.

Government also proposed $300m over six years to upgrade 30 schools, in particular schools with leaky buildings.

It also planned to establish a separate unit which could help schools with managing property and facilities, which would allow them to reduce time spent on management and increase time spent on teaching.