AAP govt gives nod for 12,000 rooms in schools

PWD was asked to carry out a survey

The construction of 12,478 rooms, including 9,981 classrooms, for Delhi government schools was approved by the Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday.

Announcing the decision, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the new rooms would be completed within a year to a year-and-a-half.

Apart from classrooms, 106 multi-purpose halls; 328 laboratories; 204 libraries, principal’s office, vice-principal’s office and staff rooms; and 1,067 toilet blocks would be constructed by the Public Works Department at a cost of ₹2,892.65 crore (₹1,300 crore during 2018-2019 and ₹1,562.65 crore during 2019-2020).

Mr. Sisodia, who is also Education Minister, said that 8,000 rooms had already been constructed as part of the Delhi government’s plan to improve education. Currently, 280 school buildings had double-shifts due to the large number of students.

New vocational streams

“The government has also introduced new vocational streams in the school curriculum for which additional classrooms will be required,” a government statement said.

With the population growing and new streams being added, the PWD had been asked to carry out a survey of all school buildings to assess the need for halls, toilets, labs, staff rooms and staircases.

The PWD was asked to prepare a construction plan after consulting the head of the school and to include the removal of temporary structures as a part of the plan.