The government is being urged to review school buildings across Suffolk in the wake of a damning report on their condition.
The National Audit Office’s ‘Condition of School Buildings’ report has revealed that 38% of school buildings are past their estimated design lifespan.
This means that nationally 700,000 children have been taught in schools that require major rebuilding or refurbishment programmes.
Last year, it was revealed that nearly 300 schools in Suffolk had at least one part of their buildings needing repair or replacement, with more than 3,000 items found to be defective.
According to the Condition Data Collection statistics, a total of 292 buildings had at least one building component that had "major defects" or was "not operating as intended".
More than 3,000 building components - such as roofs, windows, doors, electrics and light fittings - were graded "poor" or "bad" by surveyors.
Almost 100 schools in Suffolk were given the worst possible rating for at least one aspect of their buildings and are in need of "immediate" repairs.
The CDC gave 90 schools in the county a ‘D’ rating, meaning that parts of buildings had "life expired and/or a serious risk of imminent failure", and that "immediate" repairs or replacements are needed.
Jack Abbott, Labour and Co-operative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Ipswich, said: "If you want to judge the record of the Conservatives after more than a decade in power, you don't need to look much further than our crumbling schools.
"We have been warning for some time that the Conservative’s severe neglect of school buildings is not only harming children’s learning, but also posing a risk to life.
"This report reveals a shocking insight into the scale of the problem, with nearly 40% of school buildings in need of urgent repair.
"However, we still do not know how many schools are at imminent threat from asbestos and Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), a building material that deteriorates over time and is susceptible to sudden failure.
"This is all a direct consequence of the Conservatives cutting real terms spending on school buildings by 50% since they came to power in 2010, and refusing to be honest about how bad the situation has now become.
"It is time for the Government to come clean and tell parents what they know about the state of school buildings and accelerate the refurbishment and rebuilding programme."
A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: "We welcome this report. "It outlines the difficulties that organisations across the country are experiencing in managing the condition of schools within the national funding provided.
"There are a significant number of aging buildings and maintenance costs have increased. This makes it extremely challenging to provide students and staff with the best environments to learn and work.
"We hope this report elevates this discussion and prompts changes to the way funding is allocated to make it fairer for all."
The Department for Education has, so far, identified nearly 600 schools where it believes Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), a building material that deteriorates over time and is susceptible to sudden failure, may have been used during construction.
However, the total number of school buildings at risk is expected to increase significantly, as the DfE does not yet have a full picture of the prevalence and condition of RAAC in schools.
There are also major concerns about ‘system-built’ blocks in schools – almost all containing asbestos – with thousands thought to be susceptible to deterioration.
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