The 235-year-old Presidency Girls Higher Secondary School in Egmore, formerly known as P.T. School, has been renovated and refurbished.
The school was identified to be created as a model school in Chennai, under the Tamil Nadu government’s Model School project covering select 32 schools in the State. Danfoss India has helped the government in the renovation.
School Education Minister K.A.Sengottaiyan, who inaugurated the renovated premises, said that there would be more such schools functioning in the next few months across the State covering all the districts. He said the government on its part would contribute ₹50 lakh per school under this scheme.
Pradeep Yadav, principal secretary, School Education Department, said many corporate houses across the State, like Danfoss, have evinced interest to offer help to the model school programme. “This is the first such school in Chennai,” he said.
Danfoss India learnt about this school in April this year and started work immediately. The firm has already renovated the government elementary school and the kindergarten in Panrutti and Kandigai villages, near Oragadam.
P. Ravichandran, president, Danfoss Industries Private Ltd, said, “We took up this project because we wanted students to study in an appealing environment and to improve the academic experience of the children attending this school.”
Mr. Ravichandran who refused to give details on the amount spent, said, “It’s not about money. There are several schools like this across India and as an industry we do what best we can from our end.”
During the initial inspection, the school was found to be in a very poor and unmaintained condition, without proper infrastructure and sanitation facilities. In liaison with local bodies and after proper planning with authorities, the school underwent a major transformation during the last three months. “Most of the work was done during weekends and after the children left school. We did not want to disturb them during school hours,” Mr. Ravichandran said.
Nidhya Guhan, Correspondent of AVM Matriculation Higher Secondary School, guided the staff of the school and re-worked the time-table. She said, “I have shared some best practices from my school with the staff here.”
Apart from Danfoss, several other organisations including Madras Central Round Table 82 and Madras Central Ladies Circle 73 also lent a helping hand in renovating this school. The Presidency Girls Higher Secondary school was established in 1783. The school provides education to over 500 children from Kindergarten to 12th grade.
