HALFWAY TO CLEARING THE NSW SCHOOL MAINTENANCE BACKLOG

More than half of the school maintenance backlog has been cleared, with local trades putting the finishing touches on school maintenance projects at NSW public schools.
 
Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell said the NSW Government is on track to deliver the $1.3 billion election commitment to wipe the school maintenance backlog to zero by July 2020.

“More than $200 million has been spent on 968 maintenance projects at public schools across metro and regional NSW during the summer holidays, leaving only 47 percent of the backlog left to clear,” Ms Mitchell said.
 
“The effort made by tradespeople, builders and department staff across the state has been incredible, handling both the task of bushfire recovery for day one and pushing on with our maintenance commitment.
 
“We have completed projects at NSW public schools across the state; sprucing classrooms, fixing rooves and tidying up grounds.
 
With more than 2200 schools in the NSW public education system, these maintenance works are vital to providing world-class facilities for students and staff across the State.
 
“We have used enough paint to fill nine backyard pools and laid enough floor to cover 40 football fields,” Ms Mitchell said.
 
“I want to reassure families that schools impacted by bushfires over the holiday period will not miss out, all planned maintenance work will still be carried out at these schools.”
 
The NSW Government has made the largest investment into public school infrastructure by any State government in Australian history. For more information about the NSW Government school maintenance commitment visit: https://www.schoolinfrastructure.nsw.gov.au/programs/planned-maintenance.html