Education Minister Erica Stanford's decisive actions aim to provide better learning environments.
A Ministerial Inquiry revealed that the Ministry's school property function was unfit for purpose. To address this, the Government is focusing on prioritising warm, safe, and dry environments, maintaining existing assets, and accelerating cost-effective new builds using standard designs and offsite manufacturing. The results of these efforts include a 35% increase in standard or repeatable designed buildings delivered, a 28% reduction in the average cost of each classroom from $1.2m to $0.87m, and a 34% increase in funding for school maintenance.
The Ministry has also achieved a significant increase in new classrooms, with 140 more delivered in 2024 compared to the previous year. One example of this success is the delivery of 14 classrooms at Wellington Girls' College within 12 weeks at a cost of around $550,000 per classroom – a 35% saving on current costs.
Jerome Sheppard has been appointed as Chief Executive of School Property, bringing expertise in delivering infrastructure to manage the operational aspects of school property. The final form of the Ministry's School Property function is expected to be decided later this year.