Agenzia Fides

Melbourne (Agenzia Fides) - To meet the increasing demand in the Australian region of Geelong, Victoria, 13 new Catholic schools will be built. The head of the Catholic Education Office of Melbourne said that there is the project of building 10 primary schools and "two or three" secondary schools in the region within the next 12 years. In addition to Geelong, the project will be extended to Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Tarneit. In Armstrong Creek the land for the construction of a new school has already been purchased while negotiations for the purchase of land for an additional campus in Geelong are in progress. It has not yet been decided whether the new Catholic school in Armstrong Creek will be primary or secondary. The program of building new schools was initiated in response to the increasing request of Catholic education throughout the region. According to the latest Statistical Yearbook of the Church in Australia, the Church runs 471 kindergartens, 1,310 primary schools, 465 junior and high schools. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 25/08/2011)