Edmund Rice College Building Grand Opening

Parliamentary Secretary for Education and the Illawarra Gareth Ward MP today announced that students and teachers at Edmund Rice College will benefit from a new creative arts centre supported by the NSW Government.

Mr Ward has today officially opened the new $1.68 million centre, which received $1.17 million in funding from the NSW Government’s Building Grants Assistance Scheme.

“All students deserve the very best facilities to learn and grow in, no matter what school they go to,” he said.

“I’m delighted the NSW Government has supported this wonderful building project,” Mr Ward said.

The NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said the NSW Government was working hard to deliver top-quality educational facilities to give children and young people the best possible start to life.

“We want to provide high quality education resources to all students so they can succeed and thrive in the 21^st century,” Rob Stokes said.

BGAS grants are directed towards Independent and Catholic schools with the greatest need to help them cater for growing enrolments with new or upgraded facilities.

The latest NSW Budget provided a $32 million boost to the program, bringing the total funding under the scheme to $165 million over the next four years.

The Building Grants Assistance Scheme is funded by the NSW Government and administered by the Association of Independent Schools NSW and Catholic Schools NSW.

The increased funding for the program is in addition to the unprecedented $6 billion investment by the NSW Government over the next four years to deliver more than 170 new and upgraded government schools throughout NSW. This is the largest investment into public school infrastructure by any state government in Australian history.