Fresh lease of life for 59 govt primary schools as major repair works on anvil

PANAJI: Major repair works in 59 government primary schools across Goa — most of them in remote locations — will be taken up during the academic year 2020-21. While 30 of the schools are located in North Goa, the rest are from South Goa.
The repairs will be carried out at a cost of Rs 2 lakh per school. In all, Rs 1.4 crore has been allotted for the work to the state by the Centre.The project is part of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, which integrates Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for Class I to IV and the Rashtriya Madhaymik Shiksha Abhiyan for higher classes.
“This would enable and facilitate the state in improving the enrolment and retention at the primary and elementary level,” stated the Centre while approving the funds for Goa.
Additionally, Rs 7.2 lakh has also been approved for Goa to carry out educational paintings on the walls of schools.
“The objective of this activity is to achieve enhancement of learning of students in early literacy, early numeracy in Classes I to V, and science and mathematics in Classes VI to VIII,” the approval states.
The interventions are expected to help government schools improve their infrastructure.
During the last academic year 2019-20, under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, 24 toilets for boys were constructed in government schools, while major repair works of 49 state-run schools were also initiated. Additionally, 38 schools got ramps and handrails to improve infrastructure for children with disabilities.
Eleven government primary schools in Goa shut down during the academic year 2019-20.
Hundreds of other government primary schools in Goa have an enrolment of 20 or fewer students in Classes I to IV. Two to eight such schools shut each year for want of students.
Across the state, an increasing migration of students from government primary to privately-managed aided schools is being witnessed. This is seeing government primary schools shut down year after year. During the academic year 2018-19, 19 government primary schools had closed down.