PM ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR MT ANGLEM COLLEGE

Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, on a visit to Mt Anglem College in Invercargill, took the opportunity to announce the funding of over $4 million for the second stage of the redevelopment of the new school.

"It is exciting to be able to advise the principal and students that more money has been made available for further development of the college.

"The money is primarily for modernisation projects, but there is also money being made available for special projects, such as information technology service upgrades, shared learning spaces, administration spaces and general upgrading."

The Prime Minister said that the school, established this year with an initial grant of $2.1 million, has embarked on an innovative learning approach, developing two campuses within the school, one for forms 1 to 4 and the other for forms 5 to 7.

"Mt Anglem has been allowed to identify their own priorities, and to work with the local ministry of Education Property Manager to get the best learning facilities for their students.

"The Government is committed to ensuring that all schools are able to prepare their students for the future, and have the facilities to enable them to do that. That is why we announced increases of $325 million in the last Budget for education, including an extra $100 million for school property, taking the capital works programme for this year to $371 million.

"Schools are the foundation of a knowledge based economy. This Government will be investing $1 billion over the next three years to give teachers and pupils a standard of school to match our high expectations for educational outcomes," the Prime Minister said.