1 May 2015

Green light for $298m public private partnership schools

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye say the signing of a $298 million contract for four more public private partnership (PPP) schools will see significant benefits for schools and taxpayers alike.

“The contract for the schools, which will be located in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown, was signed this week with building consortium Future Schools Partners,” says Ms Parata.

Under a PPP, the private partner is responsible for designing, financing, building and maintaining the school property.

“The public private procurement model is an innovative and proven way to spend taxpayer money efficiently,” says Ms Parata.

“It also benefits teachers and staff, who can spend more time raising student achievement while the private partner looks after the buildings.”

Three of the schools - Ormiston Junior College in Auckland and Aranui Community Campus and Rolleston College in Christchurch - are new, while Wakatipu High School in Queenstown will replace an existing school but in a new location.

“All of the schools have been actively involved in setting their specific design requirements, and I’m sure each community is looking forward to seeing them built,” says Ms Parata.

Ms Kaye says the latest PPP will provide four high-quality schools at a lower cost.

“If we’d used the traditional procurement approach for these schools, it could have cost approximately $27 million more over the next twenty-five years.

“That’s the equivalent to the cost of building two small primary schools.

“The contract signing is exciting news and gives certainty to schools and communities that building work can now go ahead, with the three new schools due to open in 2017 and Wakatipu High School due to open in its new location in 2018.

“The schools will eventually cater for around 6000 students across New Zealand, who will enjoy outstanding, state-of the art facilities and the latest technology.”

ends

© Scoop Media