Thursday, 7 March 2024

South-Eastern Metropolitan Region schools

Lee TARLAMIS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:00): The Allan Labor government is continuing to deliver new and upgraded education facilities across the south-east. Last week I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of Topirum Primary School in Clyde North and Kurmile Primary School in Officer, along with the Minister for Education, the member for Pakenham and the member for Bass. These are the final two of 14 schools the Allan Labor government has opened for term 1 in 2024. These new, modern, state-of-the-art facilities will be the learning home for many students now and in years to come. It was wonderful to meet the first cohort of students and an absolute delight to tour the schools with the bright, articulate and caring school captains and principals Marc De Ley and Sharon Mitchell.

I also had the pleasure of visiting Brentwood Park Primary School with the member for Narre Warren South to officially open their year 4 learning centre and STEM building. Brentwood Park’s year 4 students now have a modern learning environment which will help them develop creative thinking, promote STEM literacy and inspire learning for life – critical skills for the future. Thank you to school leaders Inaaya, Vish, Angel and Aarav, who took me on a tour of the school and the new building, and a big shout-out to principal Jim Bell, the hardworking teaching staff and the builders who made this vision a reality.

The real value of having these new, inspiring and modern facilities is that it makes it easier for our young Victorians to learn new things and easier for our hardworking teachers to teach them. This is all part of our commitment to ensure every child can get a great education regardless of where they live, and it is why over the last nine years the Allan Labor government has invested $14.9 billion in building new schools and more than 1940 school upgrades have been delivered. Our education system is one to be proud of, and this investment is ensuring our schools are better equipped to prepare students for the future.