The development boom in inner-Brisbane has caused massive overcrowding problems in local state schools, Queensland's only Greens MP Michael Berkman says.

Mr Berkman has called for a new school to be built in his inner-west electorate of Maiwar, to take the pressure off existing primary schools struggling with unprecedented growth.

"It's just a constant message coming back from the community, and a handful of those schools in particular are just bursting at the seams," Mr Berkman said.

He said two schools in his electorate were copping the brunt of the problem, including Ironside State School in St Lucia, which has more than 1,100 students.

It has also seen a 20 per cent hike in enrolments since 2014, while neighbouring Indooroopilly State School — which also has 1,100 students — has seen a 26 per cent increase in enrolments.

Mr Berkman said it was particularly bad at the start of the year, when students were unable to borrow books for a whole term because the library had to be used as a temporary classroom, while demountables were erected on the oval.

Over-crowding lead to demountables being erected on the school oval at Indooroopilly. ( ABC News )

"Schools can't be blamed for this, it's not like the principals have a choice about this, about how many kids move into the catchment or are ready to start school in a given year," he said.

"It's about governments exercising long term foresight and planning for the inevitable change in our demographic in these areas."

Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) president Kevin Bates said he has heard of many cases where schools had to get creative to find classroom space.

"Often it's things like a music room that will be lost in the hustle and bustle to make sure there's enough spaces for classes to go into," Mr Bates said.

"I've seen classes operate in the lunchroom that staff would normally use.

"That's not in the students best interests and it's really a deplorable situation."

He warned play areas were often the first to go, as schools scrambled to find more room.

"The issue in inner-city schools is that often the only space that's available to build new buildings is the oval or the green space," he said.

"And when we are in an environment such as Queensland where the outdoors is a perfectly useable space and indeed one that allows for students to work off that energy, it's a real shame to think that we would be sacrificing that space just to have enough room for students to learn in," Mr Bates said.

Last month, "vertical schools" were a suggested solution to the city's population problem, with one in the Fortitude Valley to become the first to open its doors, in 2020.

An artist's impression of the vertical school to be built at Fortitude Valley in 2020. ( Supplied )

Overcrowding a 'state-wide problem'

Mr Bates said overcrowding was a state-wide problem — a legacy that has come from decades of neglect.

"We have many schools that are at or near capacity," Mr Bates said.

"They have enrolment management plans imposed once they reach 80 per cent of their total capacity, and there are many many schools in the south-east corner that are already at the point of having their enrolments capped."

Mr Berkman said the state government was not keeping up with growth. ( ABC News: Patrick Williams )

Mr Berkman said all of the schools in his electorate had enrolment management plans — meaning students can only attend the school if they live in the school catchment area — so narrowing catchment boundaries would not fix the problem.

He warned enrolment pressures at the primary level were spilling over to Indooroopilly High, where its student intake has jumped 32 per cent in just three years.

He said the State Government was not keeping up with growth, caused by the apartment boom and subdivisions in suburban areas.

"The Government is playing catch-up now," he said.

"We've seen for years that they've been more than happy to allow extraordinary infill development and the city is built up around us constantly."

He said a major investment in the inner-west was desperately needed.

"We are seeing some money going into those schools, but in some ways it's just way too late," he said.

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said her department monitored population trends across the state to identity high growth areas requiring additional school infrastructure, which included the inner-west.

In a statement, Ms Grace said Ironside recently built a $6 million classroom building, while construction was set to start on a $10 million teaching block at Indooroopilly State School to be built by 2020.

Indooroopilly High will get a $17 million classroom building.