University High School in Parkville is at 110 per cent capacity.Credit:Justin McManus
“Ultimately,there needs to be sufficient permanent capacity in local schools for these growing communities once they are fully established.”
Katie Roberts-Hull,chief executive of education charity Think Forward Educators,said Melbourne’s CBD did not have enough schools.
“The first thing I noticed is that Carlton Gardens Primary and University High School[in Parkville] are both very over-enrolled. This is what I expected,as the zones for these two schools cover Melbourne’s CBD,which has increased in population significantly,” she said.
“I think there has been a misalignment with urban planners and Departments of Education. This has been highlighted for greenfield developments many times before,showing issues where families build a new home,only to be left without a government school for years.
“However,similar issues are happening for urban infill areas in the inner cities.”
Box Hill High School was one of the 102 state schoolsissued with an enrolment plan for this year by the Education Department. The school,located in an eastern suburb dotted with skyscrapers,can only enrol students inside the school zone,or siblings of current students.
Principal Kellie Ind said her school had grown to 104 per cent capacity because of an increase in housing in the area and the campus’ tiny space.
“We are surrounded by roads,train line and the council oval,so there’s no more space or classrooms,” she said.
Another in-demand school is Taradale Primary School,located 100 kilometres north-west of Melbourne,between the popular tree-change towns of Kyneton and Castlemaine.
Taradale had just two students and wason the verge of shutting down in 2012. Now,it has 75 students and is deemed to be at 119 per cent capacity,according to the department’s enrolment pressure index.
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Principal Christopher Burgess said the school didn’t feel crowded,although word had spread that it was a zoned school.
“Quite often people will preface their calls with,‘I’m not sure if I’m able to enrol at your school’,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of families saying they’d be prepared to move to get into the school.”
The Education Department has been building about a dozen new schools a year,predominantly in outer growth areas,and is on track to open 100 new schools by 2026.
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