Asbestos has been discovered in a classroom at a primary school in Melbourne's north-west during renovation works.

Key points: Samples taken from a classroom last Wednesday were found to contain asbestos

Samples taken from a classroom last Wednesday were found to contain asbestos The room has since been cleaned but remains closed as a precaution

The room has since been cleaned but remains closed as a precaution The Victorian Government undertook asbestos audits of more than 1,700 state schools in 2016

The Education Department is investigating after concern was raised last Wednesday after material containing asbestos was found at Essendon North Primary School.

Occupational hygienists visited the school that day and took samples which were found to contain asbestos.

The department said the room was cleaned to remove remaining asbestos debris and air monitoring was conducted, which showed that airborne asbestos fibres were below the laboratory detection limit.

"The department has conducted an environmental clean of the area and an independent occupational hygienist has cleared the room," an Education Department spokesperson said.

"As an additional precaution, the affected room will remain closed until the final inspection and air-monitoring is undertaken.

"The safety of students and the school community is our number one priority.

"We understand events such as these can be concerning for the school community and an investigation is underway.

"The department will continue to keep the school community informed as the investigation progresses."

Parents dropping their children off at the primary school this morning urged the Government to remove asbestos from all schools.

"I wouldn't want asbestos where my children are and I know that's my niece's classroom so I know it's a concern," mother Mandy Paladino said.

Opposition urges parents to check on their children's school

The Andrews Government audited more than 1,700 government schools for asbestos materials in 2016, which led to the removal of high-risk asbestos from almost 500 schools.

The Shadow Education Minister, Cindy McLeish, said she was "alarmed" by the latest discovery.

"We had the Premier and the Minister in 2014 vow to remove asbestos from all schools, then they backflipped and said they would target asbestos that posed a medium and high risk … and now in 2019 we see this very disturbing situation, where a layer of dust has been allowed to gather on their belongings," she said.

"I imagine that a school like this perhaps wasn't identified [as medium or high risk], and it should have been, and that there might be others in this same situation."

Ms McLeish encouraged parents to ask their school whether it had received an asbestos audit.

The department expects to provide an update on its investigation on Friday.

It said following this, parents, carers and other members of the school community would have the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Victorian School Building Authority and an occupational hyigienist to discuss any concerns.

The department said it would work with the school to register affected individuals on the department's occupational health and safety reporting system over the next two weeks.