Nueva Zelanda: Overcrowded classrooms force schools to lose libraries

Oceanía/Nueva Zelanda/28 de Agosto de 2016/Autor: Brooke Bath/Fuente: Stuff

RESUMEN: El crecimiento explosivo en las aulas está obligando a las escuelas a enseñar en las bibliotecas y los pasillos y en temperaturas bajo cero.  Alrededor del 60 de los 68 centros públicos en el centro y sur de Auckland están trabajando en o por encima de su capacidad de estudiantes. La mayoría  han convertido sus bibliotecas o salas de enseñanza para hacer frente mientras esperan el alivio temporal de los salones móviles. En la Isla del Sur, algunos estudiantes se les enseñaba en una sala de madera revestida con el amianto en condiciones bajo cero y tuvo que renunciar a su biblioteca para tener más espacio en el aula. La Escuela Primaria Methven cerca de Ashburton no tuvo más remedio que trasladar cuatro aulas a su biblioteca y una sala de madera abandonada que hacía las veces de sala.  La mañana más fría que de este invierno fue -7C y los estudiantes y profesores asistieron a la sala sin aislamiento con las chaquetas de esquí. La escuela rural fue diseñada para 220 estudiantes, pero en los últimos cuatro años ha asomado a 320. «Ha sido tiempos difíciles. El [Patronato] tuvo que ser estratégico sobre dónde colocar los estudiantes y donde tuvimos el espacio libre», dijo.  El Principal, Murray dijo que el Ministerio de Educación ha financiado más de $ 1 millón para la nueva habitación después que finalmente visitó la escuela a principios de 2016. Sin embargo, la biblioteca todavía albergará dos aulas hasta finales de septiembre.

Explosive growth in classrooms is forcing schools to teach out of libraries and halls and in sub-zero temperatures.

About 60 of the 68 state schools in central and south Auckland are working at or above their student capacity.

Most have converted their libraries or halls into teaching spaces to cope while they wait on temporary relief from relocatable classrooms.

In the South Island, some students were being taught in an asbestos-clad woodwork room in sub-zero conditions and had to give up their library for extra classroom space.

Methven Primary School near Ashburton had no choice but to relocate four classrooms to their library and a derelict woodwork room that doubled as a hall.

The coldest morning they had this winter was -7C and students and teachers in the non-insulated hall bunkered down in ski-jackets.

A mobile library was arranged since two classrooms took over the space more than a year ago.

Principal Chris Murray said their backs were up against the wall as pupil numbers increased after growth and development in the area.

The rural school was designed for 220 students but over the last four years has peeked at 320.

«It’s been trying times. The [Board of Trustees] had to be strategic about where to put students and where we had the spare space,» he said.

«It came down to that we don’t have an alternative. Every nook and cranny was full.»

But two weeks ago, they were able to move into a brand new classroom fitted with a heat pump and «all the bells and whistles».

Murray said the Ministry of Eduction funded more than $1 million for the new room after eventually visiting the school earlier in 2016.

However, the library will still house two classrooms until the end of September.

Rowendale Primary School in south Auckland gave up their library five years ago to make for teaching space.

«We haven’t had a proper library for so long that these kids don’t know what a library is,» said principal Karl Vasau.

They created a pop up library in a tiny room where only 10 students at one time can visit.

Currently, there are 628 students packed into a building designed for 480.

«We’re using every part at the school as possible because of the overcrowding,» he said.

They received six relocatable classrooms delivered by the Ministry last year.

Two were brand new and another two were asbestos-clad taken from another school.

It’s been a temporary fix, but they still don’t have a library.

Lynda Stuart, principal representative of the New Zealand Education Institute said principals are doing the best they can with what they have.

She said schools working above capacity had no choice but to forfeit libraries and halls and that choice threw the whole school out of function.

«That means other children can’t use it and it’s not a school-wide facility anymore. It’s also the fact that the children are in a temporary place,» she said.

«It’s not their learning environment to specifically meet their needs.»

Michael Maher, Auckland Primary Principals’ Association representative said if a school is working to capacity it was highly likely neighbouring schools are as well.

He said migration and immigration were the main factors for significant roll growth in Auckland over the past few years and that overcrowded schools were an effect of the region’s housing crisis.

But Rob Giller, acting head of education infrastructure for the Ministry of Education said they were looking ahead 30 years and working closely with local bodies.

«It is no secret that the population and therefore student numbers are growing not only in Auckland, but also in Hamilton, Tauranga, Central Otago and Queenstown,» he said.

«The Ministry is forecasting the impact of this growth on the school network and working to ensure it will be accommodated.»

In 2014, a growth package of $350 million over four years was announced for Auckland to get ahead of demand and ensure necessary school infrastructure was in place to meet population growth.

He said the Ministry’s school property guide calculator makes different allowances for space depending on variables such as the years of the students, whether the school is operating in a Maori medium, and whether there are special needs students enrolled.

«School rolls are also prone to short-term fluctuations, so if a school is calculated as operating at capacity today, it doesn’t imply that it will be tomorrow, or that it has an ongoing shortage of facilities,» he said.

Fuente: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/83303455/overcrowded-classrooms-force-schools-to-lose-libraries