Government spends $31m putting walls back into open-plan classrooms

Summarised by Centrist

The government is spending another $31.3 million to install internal walls and create defined teaching spaces in more than 600 open-plan classrooms at nearly 90 schools.

Education Minister Erica Stanford has called open-plan learning a “failed experiment”, saying schools report the spaces are noisy, distracting and difficult to manage.

The funding follows nearly 200 expressions of interest from schools seeking to divide large, flexible learning environments into conventional classrooms.

Design work will also begin for another 755 classrooms at about 80 schools where the required alterations are more complicated.

“This is about closing the door on the failed experiment of open-plan classrooms,” Stanford said.

“Every child deserves a classroom where they can focus, take part and succeed, and every teacher deserves a space that lets them do what they do best, teach.

The latest allocation follows $10 million provided to 40 schools last year for similar work.

The government has also stopped designing new schools around open-plan learning environments.

Flexible learning spaces were introduced to allow students to work in larger groups, move between activities and be taught collaboratively by several teachers.

Critics have argued that the environments produce excessive noise and distraction, particularly for children with sensory, attention or learning difficulties.

The latest investment brings government spending on converting existing open-plan classrooms to more than $41 million, with further costs likely once design work for the additional 755 rooms is completed.

Read more at the Beehive

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