Hundreds of people have joined Beechworth Secondary College’s fight for funding to upgrade the school, by signing a petition directed at the Victorian government.
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The school has waited 10 years, but even with plans for state-of-the-art buildings ready to go, funding has not been allocated.
“Victoria proudly brands itself as the education state, yet at Beechworth Secondary College students and teachers have been left to make do with outdated and substandard classrooms,” the petition states.
“As a community, we believe that the students at our school have a basic right to a 21st century learning environment. Students at Beechworth Secondary College should have the same opportunities as other students across the state.”
Just over 300 people have signed the online petition in the first two days and hard copies are being placed at about 100 shops and businesses in the area.
Parent Trudi Ryan is part of a group campaigning for the school and said although the teachers at the school were great, the old 1960s buildings were no longer appropriate.
The portables either had boarded up broken windows or were too cold for students to concentrate.
“Some rooms are so bad, they’ve been closed off,” she said.
“The community feels that it’s been neglected by consecutive state governments.”
The school had been patient, waiting its turn for funding, but now believes it deserves to be funded for the full project, not just a patch-up job.
Victorian Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford said she was “feeling very hopeful of being able to have some positive news for that project before too long” when she visited the region recently.
Ms Ryan said they had been told an announcement from the Victorian government was coming soon.
She has encouraged anyone in the region to support the children’s right to a fair education and sign the petition either in shops or at www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/petitions.
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