SCHOOL BUILDING REQUIREMENTS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25448, 20 March 1948, Page 3

SCHOOL BUILDING REQUIREMENTS

PROPOSALS FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS

EXPECTED INCREASES IN PUPILS The programme of school building requirements in the Canterbury Education Board’s area in the next five years was outlined by the Minister of Education (Mr T. H. McCombs) when he paid his ftrst official call on members yesterday morning. The Education Department had never before been faced with the provision of classroom®, for 30 per cent, more school population within five years,-he said, and to their difficulties were added the legacy of delayed building from the war years. At the end of last year it was estimated that the Canterbury Education Board was short of 75 classrooms. With the prospect of heavily-increased roll numbers, it was considered that (in addition to these) 28 new classrooms would be required this year, 25 in 1949, 37 in 1950, 46 in 1951, and 50 in 1952. The deficiencies last year were based on the need for 43 new classrooms in Christchurch and its environs, four in the Timaru area, four at Ashburton, two at Greymouth, and 22 in country districts. The distribution of building in the next five years (now under consideration) was as follows: —Christchurch and district. 17, 21. 26, 35, 37; Timaru, 1. 1. 2, 3. 3; Ashburton, 3,0, 1,1, 1; Grey mouth, 0,1, 0,0, 1; country, 7, 2,8, 7. 8. Expected rises in school population were:—Christchurch, 16,000 to. 21,500; Timaru. 2200 to 2600; Ashburton, 1150 to 1410; Greymouth. 964 to, 1061. It would be seen that the major need was in Christchurch, where the building of some new schools would be required to meet the..emergency. Here ana. in some other parts, additions to present facilities would also be made. The Building Controller and Cabinet sub-committee had given an assurance that this work would not be unduly hampered, Mr McCombs said. Building materials would probably not be* the chief concern. He thought the main bottleneck would be in securing working drawings. Private architects would probably have to be engaged and it seemed that .some degree of standardisation ' would be of assistance.

With steel and cement required, for hydro-electric and other works, use of these materials would have to be avoided: but the other materials required would not represent an ‘unduly large proportion of the Dominion’s annual building supplies.