Education Minister David Miliband said that within three years spending on school facelifts in the region would rocket from '402m to '2.6 billion.
And in 2007 Salford and Tameside will join Manchester in the Department for Education and Skills massive "building schools for the future" scheme.
Local education authorities were invited to apply for cash to improve secondary school buildings on the basis of need, measured by pupils' GCSE results and the number of pupils eligible for free school meals.
Since Labour came to power in 1997 '402m has been spent on schools in the north west. In the next three years, says Mr Miliband, this will rise to '2.6 billion, a six-fold increase.
"Investment in our schools is an investment in our future, and the unprecedented levels of funding I am delighted to announce today will provide real benefits for every pupil in every school in the north west."
He said the government was giving more cash direct to headteachers to allow them to tackle the specific needs of their classrooms.
Computers
The headteacher of a typical 250-pupil primary school will get '34,000 a year to spend on buildings and computers by 2008. A typical 1,000-pupil secondary school will receive '113,000 a year.
There will also be more cash for every local education authority and those running church schools. Nationally, more than '2 billion will be available by 2008 to modernise facilities, respond to pupil increases and improve access for disabled pupils.
On top of this there is the building schools for the future scheme which will, within 15 years, rebuild or modernise every secondary school.
An extra '4.4 billion has been promised for the second and third waves of this programme, including Salford and Tameside in 2007.
Mr Miliband said: "It is great news for the pupils, parents and teachers of Tameside and Salford.
"Schools should be a source of local pride and through this programme we have the opportunity to tackle a generation of under-investment in our schools and provide all young people with the facilities they deserve, to raise aspirations and standards." Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
This story is great news for the schools which benefit from the extra cash. But did you know? - Priestnall school in Heaton Mersey is one of the best performing and most popular schools in Stockport, but it is over-crowded and the accomodation is in dire need of investment to maximise the schools potential. However, rather than invest in the school, shamefully Stockport council want to REDUCE the number of pupils attending by excluding Heaton Chapel kids from it's priority catchment area, and forcing them to go to Reddish Vale Tech college intead! - a much less successful and less popular school. You only need to compare the Ofsted reports of the two schools to see why Heaton Chapel parents are currently fighting for all they are worth to protect their kids right to stay in the priority area! We are disgusted and outraged at the councils' failure to invest in one of the towns most successful schools.