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The NSW Government will outsource the maintenance of more than 200 Sydney schools as it seeks to sell off part of the state's public works program.
The call for expressions of interest from the NSW Minister for Finance Services and Property, Dominic Perrottet, is the latest in a string of non-teaching privatisations in the public education sector.
Cleaning, design and maintenance services are currently outsourced in different areas across the state.
The sale of the Construction Services Group (CSG), which earns $30 million a year in revenue, will mostly affect 250 public schools in the fast growing south-western Sydney region.
In June, safety concerns over the hiring of external contractors were raised when 26-year-old teacher Stephanie Scott was allegedly murdered by a cleaner who had been contracted to clean Leeton High School through an external company.
Ms Scott's alleged killer, 24-year-old Vincent Stanford, had passed police background checks before beginning work at the Colin Joss & Co cleaning company.
Mr Stanford allegedly sexually assaulted Ms Scott before dumping her body in bushland in Griffith in the state's north.
According to its website Colin Joss & Co is contracted to clean more than 1000 schools across the state.
A spokesman for the Department of Education downplayed any risks associated with engaging external contractors in school environments.
"Safety checks are a contractual obligation for service providers," he said.
Employees working in schools currently have to undergo working with children checks and department safety checks before they can be employed on school grounds.
The spokesman said no further safety checks had been instituted since Ms Scott was killed six months ago.
According to tender documents the new service provider would provide services across a range of industries including, stonemasonry, hydraulics and asbestos removal.
A spokesman for the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation said that the tender was part of a suite of reforms to NSW Public Works.
"A well developed and capable commercial market now exists for efficient and cost effective delivery of infrastructure and engineering capabilities, particularly in the Sydney metropolitan area."
He said that taxpayers would receive a good return on investment.
"Given the maturity and competitive nature of the construction services market, it is in the private sector's commercial interest to deliver competitive cost effective services when tendering for government projects."
The spokesman would not comment on what the expected sale price for the CSG would be or whether the sale would be used to fund more school infrastructure.
