Since 2013, thousands of apartments have sprouted in West End and South Brisbane. Most people would take this as a sign of progress. However, many residents are also seeing this as a sign of overpopulation. With more families moving in, schools are forced to take in more students than usual.
How did this problem escalate?
West End’s population grew rapidly in the past 10 years as more people moved into the neighbourhood. During 2013 and 2014, there were 2,862 residential applications in West End and South Brisbane.
As most of the newcomers established abode in several new apartment buildings, the government was unable to adjust and anticipate growth of the number of incoming students. This problem was further aggravated when the government sold the parcels of land occupied by the School of Distance Education and the old Southbank TAFE Institute in 2013. Apartment complexes are being constructed on those sites.
What’s being done to solve the school crisis?
To accommodate the growing number of students, West End and South Brisbane would need to put up at least 700 primary schools. The problem is that there is not enough land on which to build them.
Concerned citizens believe that education sites should not have been sold. They are also recommending for the land at 35 Vulture Street to be turned into a school zone.
In the meantime, West End State School temporarily converted their tennis courts into classrooms. The school is also adding eight classrooms and a resource centre. These additions would accommodate approximately 200 to 250 students.
While these developments are a sign of progress, they do not immediately solve the overpopulation in public schools. As a result, parents are voicing their dissatisfaction at the slow progress. They also believe that the overcrowding in schools signifies the government’s failure when it comes to long-term planning.