The Government says the cost of repairing earthquake damage to Christchurch schools and tertiary institutions could exceed $1 billion and warns insurance payments will not cover all the work.
A draft plan for renewing the South Island city's education system says nearly half of the area's 215 state and state-integrated schools need major repairs.
Twenty-nine schools need new buildings because of roll growth, while 31 face significant rationalisation because they have fewer students.
The plan says that work will cost between $500 million and $750 million over 10 years, and repairs to public tertiary institutions will cost a further $300 million.
It says insurance will cover only some of the work and the shortfall will have to be met from existing reserves and capital budgets, new government spending and reducing the number of facilities.
