Nicholas Rapulo, Narrandera Argus

Yanco Agricultural High School students have blasted the NSW Department of Education, saying they are feeling unheard, unvalued and un-nurtured over their run-down dormitories.

The girl’s dormitories have been unfit for the students for the better part of 20 years, and their promised repair has been delayed once again.

In 1994 demountable buildings became a temporary fix for the female students as accommodation at YAHS but upgrades have fallen behind.

Air conditioners are broken, walls are cracked, students swelter in the heat of summer and freeze in the cold of winter.

Students made their feelings clear to the state education minister Sarah Mitchell 12 months ago when she visited.

The girls at YAHS had their prayers finally answered last July when the NSW Government announced the first stage of upgrades to their accommodation, beginning by “the end of the school year”.

Eight months after the announcement, the upgrades are still only in the planning stage.

Member for Murray Helen Dalton was contacted by the Year 12 Prefect body at YAHS pleading for assistance.

The impassioned letter from the students detailed their living conditions and wider impact on the culture, identity and functionality of the school.

“Currently, Yanco is down in numbers due to the inadequate residences within the school as well as COVID restrictions,” the letter stated.

“We simply cannot house any more students. As the future of this school and as possibly future parents of students to come here we are extremely concerned.

“Without numbers, we lose teachers, opportunities, and ultimately identity. We do not feel heard, valued or nurtured.”

Ms Dalton has joined the chorus pressuring the government to end the misery of female students with a letter to the education minister in December last year.

In a response to Ms Dalton, Ms Mitchell’s office stated the government was “assessing the requirements for the school.”

Ms Dalton believes it’s “disgusting” the school is being kept in the dark about the upgrades.

 “Last year, the NSW Government pledged a new girls dorm for Yanco’s long-suffering female students,” Dalton said.

“But we have no timeline, no budget, nothing but a hollow promise. These dorms are unsafe, cramped shacks.

“There’s no way the Minister would let her daughter stay in them.

“Female students have been waiting 27 years for decent accommodation. It’s only a matter of time before a girl gets sick or injured due to the NSW Government’s neglect.

“The NSW Department of Education claims students get a say in their education, but it’s all rubbish. To me, they seem like a secretive, dysfunctional mess of a department under Sarah Mitchell and Mark Scott.”

The education minister responded saying she has directed her department to deliver the upgrades as fast as possible.

“The Minister visited the school, spoke with the staff and students, and also had a tour through the current dormitories,” Mitchell’s office told the Argus.

“Following her visit, and after seeing the facilities firsthand, she committed to replacing the dorms with permanent facilities. She directed the department to deliver this as soon as possible.

 “The Department has been working with the school to ensure they deliver facilities that meet the school’s needs.

 “Plans are being drawn up, and a business case is on track for lodgement with Treasury.”

Meanwhile Education Minister Sarah Mitchell and the National Party’s Wes Fang snubbed the Yanco school while they were in the region making infrastructure announcements this week.

The pair visited Ashmont Public School in Wagga Wagga on Tuesday, then travelled to Hay on Wednesday, with a spokesman confirming they would not be visiting Yanco Agricultural High School on the way.

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 11 March 2021.