Blankets warm students as funding gives shivers

AUSTRALIA – A school in Victoria has adapted a new uniform policy that allows students to wear blankets in class, as an inadequate power supply leads students shivering, The Age reports.

The school´s council voted to amend their uniform policy temporarily and allow students to bring blankets to school because of occupational health and safety concerns.

School council president Glen Martin said: ‘’The school is responsible for the well-being of children and this is the only way we can see we can meet their needs.’’

The school´s electricity has cut out four times this winter, leaving students shivering in classrooms without heating.

Principal John Conway said: “It is always on bitter cold mornings … if the power goes out even the gas heaters don’t work.”

Students were already allowed to wear beanies and scarves in class, provided they were in the school´s colours, said a Year 9 student.

The school was promised a $20 million upgrade by the previous government.

An audit found the school needed a 400-amp power supply rather than the existing 300-amp supply, which would cost $187,000.

The Education Department told the school it would have to fork out for a quarter of the cost, which Conway said he cannot pay.

An influx of students in the past 10 years has meant that the school spend cash reserves on things like new lockers to cope with rising student numbers.

Parents were frustrated about the government´s lack of funding and hoped the blanket uniform policy would highlight the deprivation, Martin said.

Education Minister Martin Dixon said the education department was working with the school to help overcome its power supply and facilities issues.