Some high schools in Perth will have their lines redrawn; with the announcement the state is looking to amalgamate minor institutions.

WA Premier Colin Barnett has said that a number of small schools in Fremantle and Armadale are unable enough range or quality in their academic programs. Barnett also said a number of schools required hefty renovations and reconstructions. Closure or amalgamation will happen, but there has been no word yet on which schools or officially when.

The Premier says it will likely not be this year, saying there must be an extensive consultation and evaluation process first.

“High schools that have only 300 or 400 students, or even 500 students, simply cannot provide the choice of curriculum students want and deserve,” Premier Colin Barnett said, “you also end up with small class sizes, [you have] a physics teacher teaching half a dozen students.”

“Where you bring two schools together, virtually rebuild the school campus and offer a wider choice of curriculum, there is no doubt you improve the education outcomes for kids.”

He expects some fiery responses to the plan.

“There would be detailed planning, there would be meetings and discussions with parents,” Barnett said, “having gone through that process in the 90s, [we] ended up with some very heated meetings. But pretty much in every situation [we] ended up with agreement between the schools, the teachers and the parents as to what would be best for their children.”

The amalgamation announcement came on the same day as word the Government is looking at cutting 500 jobs from WA’s state school sector.