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 THE levels of waste being uncovered as part of the Rudd government's Building the Education Revolution are continuing to come to light with a report in The Australian showing school canteens built by the Catholic school system under the controversial $16.2 billion program, are up to five times cheaper than those delivered by the government.
Geraldton's St Lawrence Primary School at Bluff Point has developed a 10m x 7.5 m canteen for $4043 per square metre.
By comparison, the governments "unusable" small NSW canteens, measuring 8.47m x 3.1 m, costs $23,000 per square metre.
THe Parents and Citizens Association of Tottenham CEntral School in NSW has described the BER as a "colossal waste of taxpayer and government money."
"We thought it was going to be great...when you're getting something worth $600,000, you don't think small," president of the P&C, Rick Bennett, said.
"The new canteen can't even store all our freezers and with a pie-warmer, meat slicer and microwave on the stainless steel bench, there is hardly any room to prepare food."
Catholic schools had a more "hands on" approach to the implementation of its buildings, under the system - whereas government schools were told what they would get, according to The Australian.
The implementation of the system is the subject of a Senate hearing, where the above costs between Catholic and public schools were revealed.
New South Wales Department of Education director-general Michael Coutts-Trotter was unable to explain the cost difference between buildings delivered in the Catholic system, versus the government ones.
Total Building Costs Per Square Metre:
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| Catholic* |
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Public# |
| $2,451 |
Library |
$5,400 |
| $2,426 |
Classroom |
$4,271 |
| $3,500 |
Hall |
$5,800 |
| $4,053 |
Canteen |
$13300 - $23000 |
* Includes 40 per cent fee for additional non construction costs
# includes non-construction costs
Source: The Australian
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