The Department of Public Instruction was largely unprepared for the enormous demand for state education between the late 1940s and the 1960s. This was a nation-wide occurrence resulting from immigration and the unprecedented population growth now termed the "baby boom". Brisbane had grown from a population of 326,000 in 1939 to 425,000 in 1951, and new housing estates were developed around Enoggera and elsewhere. Queensland schools were overcrowded and, to cope, many new buildings were constructed and existing buildings were extended. In 1948 the Department of Education built four temporary classrooms and two army huts were sourced to provide four more classrooms to accommodate 240 extra students.Project Services, Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, January 2008, pp.28-31Telegraph, 26 September 1944, p.4Courier Mail, 2 February 1948, p.11.
