Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui schools welcome much-needed cash injections: More details needed say principals

Liz Wylie
By Liz Wylie
Multimedia Journalist, Whanganui Chronicle·Whanganui Chronicle·
2 Dec, 2019 09:45 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Whanganui High School will receive the maximum payment from the new Government maintenance payment. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui High School will receive the maximum payment from the new Government maintenance payment. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui schools have welcomed a Government announcement that they will receive much-needed cash injections for maintenance and upgrades.

However, the announcement made by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins on Sunday has come as a surprise to some Whanganui principals who said they would prefer to comment after they have looked into the details.

Keith St principal Linda Ireton said it is "fantastic news".

"I don't want to say too much until I have gone over the details but I"m quietly delighted."

With a roll of 165 students, Keith St is in line to receive $114,345 from a national package of $396 million.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The buildings at the school are more than 60 years old and Ireton said she has kept in close contact with a Ministry of Education adviser to monitor a tight maintenance budget.

"We have an idea for an upgrade we would love to do but will need to find out whether it meets the criteria for this payment."

Nearly every state school in New Zealand will receive the one-off payment next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The improvements may include classroom upgrades, including making classrooms more flexible and modern.

It may also be used for replacing roofing and guttering, upgrading stormwater drainage systems, installing energy-efficient heating and lighting or resurfacing outdoor courts and paved areas.

Schools with small roles like Kakatahi School with a roll of 10 will receive a payment of $50,000 while Whanganui High School with a roll of 1363 will receive the maximum payment of $400,000.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government's infrastructure package to future proof the economy and provide schools with money for upgrades that have been put on the back burner.

Discover more

Education

School donations scheme aims to ease pressure on families - most Whanganui schools opt in

29 Nov 04:00 PM

Living wage offered to education support workers

01 Dec 08:00 PM

Whanganui gets thumbs-up from Labour delegation

01 Dec 04:00 PM

Wider access to vaccine will benefit young people

02 Dec 04:00 PM

"Nearly every school and community in New Zealand will benefit from this windfall investment.

"I'm proud that students and teachers will be the first to benefit from our infrastructure upgrade," Ardern said.

"The Government is taking advantage of historically low interest rates to improve school buildings and grounds while creating jobs up and down the country.

"It's the biggest capital injection for school maintenance funding in at least 25 years."

Ardern said she has visited plenty of schools and would be hard-pressed to name one that didn't have need.

"You hear horror stories about kids learning in damp, mouldy classrooms."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said the Government is encouraging schools to engage local builders, plumbers, carpenters, roofers and landscapers to provide work at a local level in every town and city.

"This Government is committed to growing our economy, creating jobs and making our schools great places to learn and the centre of local communities. This policy delivers on all those objectives."

Hipkins said many schools have had to put off building projects and make do with patched up classrooms and playgrounds.

"When we have the opportunity as we do now, we should and can do better to lift the quality of the classrooms students and teachers spend so much time in.

"This cash injection, to be administered by the Ministry of Education through existing planning processes, gives schools breathing room to catch up on deferred building work. It's a well-deserved early Christmas present for school communities."

Eligible schools must have been built before 2015.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Integrated schools, schools built through a public-private partnership, or schools in leased accommodation are not eligible.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

16 Jun 06:08 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui East gains new GP clinic

16 Jun 06:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Opinion: The struggles of finding peace in a shared hot pool

16 Jun 05:00 PM

How one volunteer makes people feel seen

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

16 Jun 06:08 PM

The fire is believed to have started in a recycling bin at the back door.

Whanganui East gains new GP clinic

Whanganui East gains new GP clinic

16 Jun 06:00 PM
Premium
Opinion: The struggles of finding peace in a shared hot pool

Opinion: The struggles of finding peace in a shared hot pool

16 Jun 05:00 PM
Two men charged following Marton incidents

Two men charged following Marton incidents

15 Jun 11:52 PM
Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka
sponsored

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP