Delhi government schools will get around 1,000 new classrooms in the next year and a half, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced on Tuesday. The Delhi cabinet in a meeting chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal approved the education department’s proposal to construct 12,478 new rooms, including 9,981 classrooms, in government schools.
Kejriwal in a tweet said the move was a “massive infra boost” for Delhi’s education sector.
Of the total 12,478 new rooms to be constructed in government schools, 9,981 are classrooms, 106 multipurpose halls and 328 laboratories, Sisodia said.
There will be 204 libraries, rooms for principals, vice-principals and staff as well as 1,067 toilet blocks.
According to a government statement, the entire project will entail a cost of around ₹2,892.65 crore. This includes ₹1,300 crore in the current financial year and ₹1,562.65 crore during 2019-20. The PWD is the executing agency of the project.
Sisodia, who is also the education minister, said 8,000 additional rooms have already been constructed in government schools. “These rooms will be constructed in the next one to one-and-a-half years,” he said.
He said the government wanted to increase the capacity of schools run by it and the municipal corporations to accommodate at least 44 lakh children.
The minister said the adverse student classroom ratio had to be reversed and the construction of new classrooms is an important step in this direction.
Schools in more than 280 buildings are running in double shifts due to the high number of students. The government has also introduced new vocational streams in the school curriculum for which additional classrooms will be required.
The government has asked the PWD to prepare the construction plan in consultation with the head of schools for maximum utilisation of space.
