Students from Wellington Girls' College have set up a temporary classroom on the grounds of Parliament as a form of protest against the school's closure for two days due to earthquake-prone buildings.

This action follows the revelation that the school's largest teaching block was earthquake-prone, a fact known by the Ministry of Education since 2020 but only discovered by the school in April.

Desks have been arranged on the lawn, and students in full uniform are working on laptops with their pencil cases laid out.

By mid-morning on Wednesday, around 120 students had arrived, accompanied by a few teachers and parents.

Placards with messages such as 'education is a right, not a risk,' 'don't gamble with our safety,' and one stating that the makeshift setup is a 'new Ministry of Education-approved classroom' were displayed.

Year 13 student Tracey, one of the first to arrive, stated that they were there to show the Ministry of Education and the world that they have no classrooms and that it is dangerous for them to be in school.

She emphasized their desire to learn, even if it means doing so at Parliament.

Tracey questioned how they are supposed to learn adequately without proper facilities, noting that the current plan involves being rostered to work from home part of the time, which is extremely challenging and reminiscent of the 2020 lockdown.

Earlier, student leaders at Wellington Girls' College accused the Ministry of Education of being a hazard to the school community.

In a letter, the student executive described the ministry as a hazard because, for four years, students and staff were in danger, occupying a building known to be earthquake-prone.

The letter, also addressed to Education Minister Erica Stanford and other education officials, criticized the ministry for not taking action earlier and questioned what measures would be taken to amend the situation and prevent it from happening again.

Wellington Girls' College has been closed this week while staff organize rosters for year groups to learn from home after 13 classrooms in the Brook block were closed.

More than half the school had already been demolished due to seismic risk and was operating out of relocatable classrooms on the sports field.

The suddenness of the situation means that students who entered Year 9 in 2022 or later have no understanding of how to work from home efficiently at high school.

Teachers are forced to create digital lesson plans on the spot, and assessments have to be paused or altered.

Students who should be working on assessments are instead writing in frustration to a ministry that does not seem to care about them.

They expressed that they could not operate if they were constantly worried about the school walls collapsing and that their anxiety would persist as long as the ministry refused to act.

The students highlighted the lack of essential facilities such as a field, a hall, bathrooms close to classrooms, a place to gather in an emergency evacuation, and any sense of guardianship from the Ministry of Education.

The letter from the student executive concluded by stating that students are writing from public libraries, bedrooms, parents' offices, kitchens, and wherever else there is warmth and Wi-Fi.

They argued that students should not have to search for a place to learn and that there should be a designated location where they feel comfortable and welcome, which should be an adequate school.

The students emphasized that the effects of the poor and life-threatening procedures of the Ministry of Education would be lasting, regardless of any measures taken now.

They pointed out that if a high-magnitude earthquake had occurred in the last four years while students were in the Brook Building, it would be too late now.

Ministry of Education staff faced questions from whānau, students, and teachers of Wellington Girls' College at a highly charged meeting.

The school closed a block after it failed an earthquake assessment and plans to demolish the building and start from scratch.

Wellington Girls' College is currently closed, and timetables are being reorganized to work around the lack of classrooms.