GSIDC to complete school upgradation task by 2022

PANAJI: The government primary schools in many regions of Goa are unrecognizable today with their classrooms being modified with latest amenities. Since 2012, the infrastructure of 327 primary and high schools has been upgraded in the state and many of them are present in remote locations inside the state.
There are around 800 governments owned primary schools in the state. Some of the schools are very old and were constructed after Goa’s liberation. Impact of weather over the years caused a serious damage to their infrastructural condition.

In 2008, the state government handed over the project of repairing and upgrading these schools to Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), as earlier the public works department (PWD) was unable to cope up with the work allotted to them.

“While the Directorate of Education (DoE) had mainly chosen primary schools with 30 or more students for repair and upgradation, some schools in remote locations with less than five students were also chosen for upgradation, keeping in mind that students in these areas only had access to these institutes,” a DoE official said.
The government had spent ₹. 40 crore till now for the upgradation and maintenance work of government schools.
In most of the schools’ renovation work was partly done, only a few schools were in a shabby condition that they were demolished and reconstructed.
“The upgradation included providing infrastructure to the building like state-of-art blackboards to dusters, benches, water supply, and electricity connections,” said an official.
The corporation has set the deadline to complete the project by 2022. The GSIDC is yet to complete the upgradation work of 344 schools across the state to meet the deadline.