PERTH’s first high-rise public school will be built in the CBD under a radical education blueprint unveiled by WA Labor.

Labor leader Mark McGowan will today announce that if he becomes Premier on March 11, his party will open a secondary school for academically gifted pupils at the Perth City Link in 2020.

Perth Academic College would cater for up to 1500 students in Years 7-12 and be located on government-owned land above the underground Perth Busport and near Perth railway station and the new Yagan Square.

The college would occupy the top floors of a 25-storey learning precinct — known as Education Central — that would incorporate a new and expanded Scitech.

Education Central would feature two outdoor play areas, including one on the roof, as well as a planetarium, indoor sport centre, auditorium performance space, cafes and conference facilities. The college would have direct access to Scitech, with a strong focus on science and mathematics.

Under the $45 million election promise, WA’s only academically selective school, currently at Perth Modern in Subiaco, would relocate to the new college.

Perth Modern would be refurbished as a new local intake secondary school for 1500 students, which Labor claims would ease pressure on other high schools in the area.

Camera Icon A map showing the locations of Labor’s planned changes in Perth, which include a multi-storey campus for gifted children. Credit: PerthNow

The vision would be funded by scrapping the Liberal plan to build a new western suburbs high school. The Barnett Government last year announced City Beach College would open at the International School of Western Australia site in 2020.

The Liberals say a new high school was needed at City Beach to ease pressure on suburbs such as Churchlands and Shenton Park, but Mr McGowan will argue the greater pressures are on the fast-growing suburbs such as Mount Lawley, Perth, Leederville, Highgate, Mt Hawthorn and North Perth.

Today’s announcement, which comes just three days before writs are issued for the March 11 State election, boosts Labor’s chances of winning the Liberal-held seats of Perth and Mt Lawley.

Under the proposal, local intake enrolments to Perth Modern would be phased-in, starting with its first intake of Year 7 and potentially Year 8 students in 2020. By 2025, it would accommodate 1500 Year 7-12 pupils.

Local intake boundaries would be amended as per the State Government’s plan to ease enrolment pressure off Churchlands Senior High, Shenton College and Mt Lawley Senior High and take effect in 2020.

Mr McGowan will guarantee that families living within the existing local intake areas of these schools will be entitled to attend either the revamped Perth Modern or Churchlands Senior High, Shenton College or Mt Lawley Senior.

Before becoming an academic selective school in 2007, Perth Modern was a local intake school with a specialist music team.

Opened in 1911, it regularly tops the State’s academic league table.

For the past three years, the top honour for WA secondary students — the Beazley Medal — has been won by a Perth Modern student.

Perth City Link spans between the Horseshoe Bridge, currently being transformed into Yagan Square, and Perth Arena.

Labor has earmarked one of two vacant sites at Perth City Link for Education Central, with a final decision to be taken if it wins government.

In May, the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority terminated its sales process with developer Mirvac for eight lots at Perth City Link.