A school community has voiced dismay after the ACT government walked back its pre-election promise to deliver a $50 million school expansion. The government told Majura Primary School in Canberra's inner north it would instead get a $20 million modernisation project owing to fewer projected enrolments.
There are now questions being raised over how the government determines the likely demand on a school.
Majura Primary P&C convener Rachael Brown said the government had initially told the school, which has about 670 primary students, it would grow to about 1,000.
That number was then "drastically" revised down to about 700.
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson, whose electorate includes Majura Primary School, said he had written to Ms Berry seeking more information about how enrolment projections come about.
He said he wondered whether there was less demand on public schools because people were seeing more value in Canberra's independent institutions.
"I'm a bit concerned that we've not seen sufficient investment in school infrastructure in a timely way and that might be contributing to reduced enrolment numbers," Mr Emerson said.
Full article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-15/act-why-fewer-enrolments-will-cost-these-canberra-schools/105654684