Thiruvananthapuram : The state govt, in its first phase, will invest Rs 2038 crore in its schools, to upgrade their infrastructure on par with international standards. The project will be funded by Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board(KIIFB).
Initially, , Rs 1654 crore will be invested in 1000 schools, to convert thwm into infrastructure excellence models. Construction is already underway at 138 premises as part of 2017-18 budget towards this endeavour. Also tenders have been finalized for 3 locations and renovation works compete at 8 schools and their facilities handed over, in this regard.
Fully refurbished schools include one each at Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and two per districts of Kannur and Malappuram. Three more schools shall be ready for handover in a few days time. Another 60 schools have almost 60 percent of their works complete.
213 schools in the state have been approved for the Rs 3-crore-per-school scheme. Of these, construction activities have begun at 70 premises and 7 handed over after due completion and 1 is ready to be given away. 20 schools under this scheme, have 69 percent of their renovation complete.
Of the 115 KIIFB approved schools, contracts pertaining to 26 schools have been entered into with KITE(Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education) and with INKEl(Infrastructure Kerala Ltd) for another 39.
The 2018-19 budget announcement includes Rs 3 crore each for schools having more than 1000 pupils. 166 schools were selected for the purpose, while draft project pertaining to 51 have been finalised.
KIIFB also announced Rs 1 crore each for schools with students ranging between 500 – 1000 in number. 446 have been included in its approval list.
Construction/renovation works at all schools will be undertaken by local govt bodies. Works at 966 schools are currently under progress.
KIIFB has so far released Rs 376.63 crore from a total of Rs 493.5 core estimated towards converting classrooms between class YII - XII , to hi-tech mode.
