Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said that the Delhi Government will construct 12,748 new rooms including around 10,000 classrooms in its schools in the next one and half years. According to a Government statement, the entire project will incur a cost of around Rs 2,892 crore.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a tweet, dubbed the move a “massive infra boost” for the education sector of the national Capital.
The Cabinet has also sanctioned construction of 106 multipurpose halls and 328 laboratories, Sisodia said.
It also includes 204 libraries, principal, vice principal and staff rooms, as well as 1,067 toilet blocks, according to a Government statement.
It further said that construction of these rooms will incur an estimated cost of Rs 2,892.65 crore. This will include Rs 1,300 crore in the current financial year and Rs 1,562.65 crore during 2019-20 fiscal. The PWD is the executing agency for the project” These rooms will be constructed in the next one to one and half years,” Sisodia, who also hold the education portfolio, said.
He said the Delhi Government wants to develop capacity of the schools run by it and the municipal corporations to facilitate accommodating at least 44 lakh children there.
Since coming to power in 2015, the AAP Government has built over 8,000 rooms in its schools. With the construction of new rooms, the total number will cross 20,000, the deputy Chief Minister said.
It also informed that classes in more than 280 school buildings are running in double shifts with high enrolment of students. “The Government has also introduced new vocational streams in the school curriculum for which additional classrooms will be required keeping the increasing trend of population growth of the city,” the release stated.
“The Public Works Department was requested to survey all the school buildings for preparing the estimates for construction of classrooms along with all the basic requirements i.e. halls, toilet blocks, labs, staffroom and staircases, the release stated.
It further said that PWD was further asked to consider some of the points before preparing the estimate. Some of these points including having a proper construction plan prepared in consultation with the head of the school for maximum utilisation of space, provision of horticulture planning and development for open area may also be taken in estimates and covering all aspect of fire safety norms such as width of staircases, double door in classrooms etc may be taken into consideration, it said.
Sisodia claimed the need for new rooms in schools will always be felt as children from private schools have now started moving to Delhi government-run schools due to improved facilities and education there.