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Preston, Docklands and Richmond.
A new day, a flurry of new school announcements to ease the chronic overcrowding plaguing Victorian classrooms.
The Andrews government continued its road show of school announcements on Wednesday, unveiling plans for a Preston high school and education precinct for Footscray.
The state is grappling with an explosion in enrolments, with an extra 90,000 students expected to squeeze into Victorian schools in the next five years. Education Minister James Merlino said the former Preston Girls’ Secondary School would reopen as a co-ed high school. The school was closed by the former Coalition state government in 2013 due to dwindling enrolments. The announcement is a win for locals who have campaigned for a new school. Similar campaigns were run by parents in Docklands and Richmond, where new schools have been announced.
As our population has boomed and more and more children have moved into the area it has become a huge issue,’’ said Anh Mai, founder of the High School for Preston campaign.
Mr Merlino remained tightlipped on when the school would open, saying it would be ‘subject to budget decisions’.
This infuriated a local at the press conference, who shouted ‘‘ of course it was always going to be opened but at least you can give us a date’’ . Mr Merlino then said the earliest the school would re-open was in 2019-20.
The Age Digital Edition: Parents claim victory in school fight