Sixteen public schools around Tasmania will receive major upgrades through a new School Building Blitz under a re-elected majority Liberal Government.
The School Building Blitz is part of the Liberals' 2030 Strong Plan for Education, which also includes constructing a brand-new, purpose-built North West support school at Devonport.
"The Liberals are the best friend Tasmania's education system has ever had," Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.
"Since 2014, the Liberal Government has provided record infrastructure funding to deliver 73 school upgrades across the State, and we are currently building new schools at Brighton ($74 million), Legana ($34 million) and Sorell ($27.48 million)," Premier Rockliff said.
"And of course, our extension of High Schools to Year 12 has transformed education in our State for the better. Last year around 1,100 young Tasmanians undertook Years 11 and 12 who otherwise might not have done.
"Our new School Building Blitz will see a further 15 public schools upgraded, from Havenview and Burnie primary schools in the North West to South George Town Primary to Risdon Vale Primary, and many more in between.
"An additional $45 million will be provided to construct a brand-new, purpose-built North West support school on a new site in Devonport and deliver significant upgrades at the North West Support School in Burnie, on top of the $17.15 million already committed by the Tasmanian Liberal Government.
"There will also be $10 million for school playground and sports court upgrades, for the shared benefit of schools and their local communities."
Minister for Education, Children and Youth, Roger Jaensch, said that a re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government will also invest heavily in improving learning outcomes for students.
"We have already committed to evidence-based, structured teaching of literacy - including phonics - for all Kindergarten to Year 2 students in government primary schools by 2026, which we began rolling out in Term 1," Minister Jaensch said.
"A re-elected majority Liberal Government will extend structured literacy tuition to all children in Years 3 to 6 at all government primary schools by 2026.
"Importantly, we will also employ an additional 25 maths and science teachers across the State, to help drive improved numeracy and science outcomes.
"To back in phonics, we will invest $800,000 to ensure decodable readers, which help children sound out words, are available in all schools, libraries and mobile libraries.
"We will provide Square Pegs with partial base funding of $800,000 over four years to support students with dyslexia. Square Pegs has provided support to families, children and young people with dyslexia and related learning differences, for more than a decade.
"We will also increase our support for Young Leaders of Tasmania by committing $310,000 per year for the next five years to extend their program to help young Tasmanians of all abilities to reach their full potential."
And we will extend remote area incentives to regional and hard-to-staff areas of the State, together with more and better teacher housing to attract and retain teachers and their families.
The schools to be upgraded under the School Building Blitz are:
- Burnie Primary School;
- Campbelltown District High School;
- Clarence High School;
- Deloraine High School;
- Dodges Ferry Primary School;
- Havenview Primary School;
- JRLF East Derwent Primary School;
- Lindisfarne North Primary School;
- Mowbray Heights Primary School;
- Port Dalrymple School;
- Princes Street Primary School;
- Ringarooma Primary School;
- Risdon Vale Primary School;
- Rosetta Primary School; and
- South George Town Primary School.
The cost of this policy is $138.47 million including $129.13 million capital over the next four years.
