NSW: NSW govt to replace school heaters
SYDNEY - The NSW government is under fire for not disclosing when it will replace the state's unflued school heaters and the cost, after a report found they posed a health risk to some children.
The long-awaited Woolcock Institute study found the "lo-NOx" or low-emission heaters slightly increased the risk of coughing and wheezing in some students, but more importantly had no impact on lung function.
While it said severe adverse consequences were unlikely, the report called on the government to "seek alternative" heating sources.
"The increased burden of symptoms and the observation of higher levels of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) with exposure to the unflued gas heater in the sub-group with asthma, suggest an adverse effect which is best avoided," the report released on Tuesday said.
Education Minister Verity Firth immediately announced all 51,000 of the heaters found in the state's schools would be replaced, with a timeframe to be announced later this year after health and environmental impact assessments.
Schools in colder climates would be the first targeted under the changes, she said.
"Key stakeholders, including parents and teachers, are working to determine the criteria for the selection of these priority schools," Ms Firth said.
The decision follows an earlier promise from Ms Firth to replace the unflued gas heaters at 100 schools in the coldest parts of the state, at a cost of $15 million.
Despite acting quickly to adopt the recommendations of the Woolcock Institute report, the government was criticised for not providing a timeframe or declaring how much it would cost.
Education department director-general Michael Coutts-Trotter in May said it would cost about $400 million to replace the heaters.
But Ms Firth said the government did not know how much it would cost.
"Not every school will have the same solution," Ms Firth said.
"It will probably be a mix of options, it won't just be that we're going to flue every gas heater.
"We cannot in any way predict yet (the cost)."
NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner called for a "firm timeframe, with dollars attached".
"It would be cold comfort for the parents of NSW to know that their children will continue to be exposed to these unflued heaters for at least another winter, or the remainder of this one," Mr Stoner said on Tuesday.
Greens MP John Kaye urged the government to begin replacing the heaters immediately.
"This report should spell the end of unflued gas heaters in the state's public schools," he said.
"The Keneally government should release a timetable of when all schools will have these heaters replaced."
Report author Professor Guy Marks reassured parents that they shouldn't be worried about sending their children to school.
"People shouldn't not be alarmed by this problem, because there is not a problem with decreasing lung functions," Prof Marks told reporters in Sydney.
"I don't believe that parents should have worries about sending their children (to school). I certainly won't have worries about sending my children to school tomorrow."
Community group C.O.U.G.H (Campaign Opposing Unflued Gas Heating) said the government's announcement would provide relief to thousands of concerned families.
"We are pleased with this decision and we look forward to working with the government on the details of the precise time frame with which the government will make this initiative happen," executive member and Hazelbrook Public School P&C President Ms Jo Keown said.
-AAP
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