An estimated 448 extra classrooms will be needed each year to accommodate Victoria’s growing population.
According to an Australian Council for Education Research report released yesterday, there will be an ongoing influx of students until 2020.
Australian Education Union Gippsland organiser Jeff Gray said while he did not expect the majority of Latrobe Valley schools to dramatically grow, satellite town Trafalgar, which is constantly under development, was an example of growing state schools catering for extra students using portable classrooms.
“Schools shouldn’t be filled with portables when they’ve got that stable enrolment,” Mr Gray said.
Mr Gray said portables were being used too often in schools and did not offer a nice learning environment.
“When you go to Lowanna College you see a large number of portables,” Mr Gray said.
“Some portables are better quality than others, but really we’ve got a record number of portables in the system and they tend to become permanent fixtures around the schools.”
