THOUSANDS of teenagers in Mernda and Doreen will vie for fewer than 1500 places at nearby secondary schools within 10 years, according to Yan Yean MLA Danielle Green.
The booming suburbs, where the population rose 575 per cent in the five years to 2011, has no state secondary school.
Ms Green said by 2021 more than 7000 students in Doreen and Mernda would need secondary education. A site in Cookes Road, Doreen, bought by the former Labor government for a secondary school, is now the Doreen primary school.
Ms Green said parents would have to drive students to schools in other suburbs or pay private school fees.
“They will have to travel on our already clogged roads,” she said. “The government refuses to build a secondary school in Doreen or Mernda, and we need a secondary school yesterday.”
She said the number of children aged 10 to 19 in Doreen and Mernda had increased more than five times from 443 in 2006 to 2285 in 2011, and it was forecast to reach 5000 in four years and more than 7000 in 2021.
Education Department spokeswoman Megan McNaught said the department monitored population data and student enrolments in growth areas.
“The department has plans for a number of schools in growth corridors and has been working with local councils, the Growth Areas Authority and developers to ensure land is set aside for education provision,” she said.
Council candidate Nicola Davis said: “Families tell me they will be forced to move closer to the city and secondary schools and give up their greener lifestyle in Whittlesea.
“For those who stay, we will be looking at Plenty Road and Yan Yean Road becoming a parking lot with the thousands of kids who will need bussing and driving to schools.”
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