Tarneit Senior College
Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (18:12): (82) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education. The action I am seeking is the allocation of appropriate funds for the much-needed sports oval at Tarneit secondary college. Once again, evidence of lack of care for our schools in the west continues. I had the opportunity to visit Tarneit secondary school during the week. I was appalled to see the lack of planning and proper funding for students’ welfare at the school. It is a new campus, completed in 2012 to be precise, and right in front of me was a large block of vacant land fully fenced off. The school own this allotment, yet it is still sitting there vacant, with no funds given for the development. The school tries to manage and cater for its students, with one soccer pitch and an unshaded courtyard to accommodate 1100 students when the school bell rings for lunch and recess as students pour out of the classroom – let alone the projection of new students to double in years to come.
The school is doing what it can, opening indoor areas so the students can have space to stretch their legs and recharge their minds after sitting in a classroom for hours, but urgent funding is needed to help what it is desperately lacking, which is open space – in this case a much-needed sports oval. Let me say it again: the school’s block of land has been sitting there vacant since 2012. Can the minister please outline in her response why the money has been sitting in the government’s coffers and not been provided for a school that desperately needs it to ensure their students’ wellbeing and social development, in this case Tarneit secondary college. So my question is: can the Andrews Labor government please allocate appropriate funds for this much-needed sports oval at Tarneit secondary college?