The Department of Education has sold two vacant primary schools in Dallas to private Islamic colleges.
As part of the former state government’s asset sell-off to raise money for infrastructure projects, Dallas Brooks and Dallas North primary schools were sold last year.
Dallas Brooks primary, in Kiewa Crescent, was sold on March 11 for $5.19 million, while Dallas North primary, in Warragul Street, sold on May 19 for more than $6.25 million.
When Star Weekly requested information about the buyers, a spokesman for the Department of Education and Training said the sites were sold to private education providers.
Further inquiries revealed that Sirius College bought the Dallas North primary site to cater for swelling school enrolments.
Sirius College’s executive principal, Halid Serdar Takimoglu, said the school had looked for a new site for about two years before making an offer on the old primary school site last year.
The college currently has five campuses, including two in Broadmeadows: in Goulburn and Lilliput streets.
Mr Takimoglu said the college planned to relocate all primary school pupils from the Eastmeadows (Goulburn Street) campus to the old Dallas North Primary School. About 100 grade 6 pupils were the first to move across to the new campus for the beginning of the 2015 school year.
Sirius College is a non-denominational school that welcomes students from all ethnic and religious backgrounds. But Nail Aykan, general manager of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said most students at the school were Islamic.
He said that although the college taught scripture, it was not a religious school.
Mr Aykan’s daughter attends the school’s Eastmeadows campus and will eventually move across to the old Dallas North primary site.
The Meadow Heights resident said he was not surprised the two state schools were bought by private colleges.
“While they’re expensive relative to the area’s blue-collar nature, there’s enough demand for these schools in the area,” he said.
Dallas Brooks Primary School was bought by co-educational Islamic school Ilim College. The school has campuses in Dallas and Glenroy.
Star Weekly contacted Ilim College for comment but did not receive a response by the time of going to press.
