The current condition of a school building at Northland College hasn’t come as a complete shock for former student, Piki Te Marama Rayner-Pratt.
Rayner-Pratt said, "From the pictures I've seen I don’t think anyone could really get educated in a building like that or in classes like that, like it’s disgusting."
However for former student, Zane Eremiha, learning in these conditions were what he believed was the norm coming from such a small town.
“Being from a small town it was the norm for us. We didn't have anything to go by as to how classrooms were supposed to look because at the time primary schools and intermediate weren't too far off the same state so for us we were seeing it day to day thinking it wasn't that bad.”
Despite the state of the school building, Principal Jim Luder is determined to make leaders out of the school’s pupils.
Te Kāea reporter Dean Nathan will have more on this story at 5:30pm on Te Kāea.