By Shelby Brooks and Emily Chapman Laing
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was swarmed by excited Pakenham Secondary College students asking for selfies during a campus visit on Wednesday 15 February.
Mr Andrews visited the school to reaffirm the $11.3m funding promise to upgrade a block of antiquated facilities, made in the lead up to November’s State Election.
Pakenham MP Emma Vulin joined Mr Andrews in touring classrooms, guided by principal Aaron Smith and student leaders.
Mr Andrews spoke with various staff and students about their experiences at the school and showed particular interest in Block A which will be completely rebuilt with the funding.
“It’s a really significant investment, it’s a significant sum,” he told Star News.
“It was great to come along today to chat to Aaron and school leaders about wasting no time on this.
“There’s some wonderful newish buildings here that are not that old but obviously getting rid of some of the older buildings is the next step.”
Mr Andrews said the rebuild would create thousands of tradie jobs.
“It’s good news for students and good news for local jobs too,” he said.
Mr Andrews said there would be significant progress in the budget in May towards the school upgrade.
“[Pakenham] is a growing area, you have about 825 students here at the moment,” he said.
“As the school grows, we need to make sure they have the very best facilities so they can provide every young person with the best start.”
