Education Department building assessment condition report reveals more than 10,000 defects across WA schools

Photos revealing the shocking state of some of WA’s public schools show classrooms with battens propping up sagging ceilings, gaping wall cracks, ceiling holes and asbestos warnings. Leaked to The West Australian, the photos are from schools in dire need of maintenance to fix crumbling classrooms and run-down facilities identified in the Education Department’s latest building condition assessment report. Topping the list with 121 defects is Esperance Senior High School, which has for years displayed a sign warning visitors to the front office about the presence of asbestos. Esperance P&C president Michelle Handley said two wings of the school, built in the 1960s, were decades past their use-by date with peeling paint, a leaky roof and holes in the ceiling such as the one pictured below. “The buildings are failing,” she said. “Our students deserve more than temporary fixes and patched-up classrooms paid for by funds that should be spent on their learning.” A disturbing image of wooden battens supporting a cracked and bulging classroom ceiling above students’ desks was recorded at Greenbushes Primary School in the South-West. Massive wall cracks were also photographed at Boyup Brook District High School in the same region. The audit of the State’s 833 public schools — tabled recently in Parliament — reported more than 10,400 defects, ranging from urgent works to fix structural corrosion, to lower-priority repairs including refreshing faded paint. Shadow education minister Liam Staltari said as school resumed this week for term 4, far too many students and teachers were returning to schools in disrepair. “Many of the schools that recorded the most defects are in regional and outer suburban communities that have been crying out for help for years,” he said. Mr Staltari said the Cook Government “should be ashamed” of the conditions that many children and teachers faced every day. “This reality is compounding teacher stress and the sense of disrespect that we know is driving record resignations,” he said. “Like our public hospitals, our public schools are bearing the brunt of eight years of Labor’s neglect and wrong priorities. And while these schools languish, the Government fast-tracks pet projects like the $217.5 million racetrack at Burswood — using taxpayer funds that would transform many of these schools.” It comes as Education Minister Sabine Winton announced an $11.3 million boost to target priority maintenance items in schools over the next two years, including upgrades to rooves, ceilings and playing surfaces. She said the highest-priority defects identified in the audit had already been rectified. Ms Winton said the government had cut the total number of school defects inherited from the previous Liberal-National Government by 70 per cent. “Since coming to Government, we’ve made it a priority to fix a significant backlog of maintenance issues at our public schools caused by years of neglect under the previous Liberal-National Government,” she said. “A well-maintained school supports not just learning, but also pride and belonging among students, staff and their communities.”