Shillong, July 6: Meghalaya has wrapped up renovation work in 1,391 government Lower Primary schools, crossing the 86 per cent mark in what officials call the state’s largest school repair drive to date under Mission Education.
A press release from the Secretariat on Sunday said 1,607 LP schools were taken up for repair and renovation across all 12 districts. Of these, 1,391 have been fully completed and work is underway in the remaining 216.
The state has committed close to Rs 1,000 crore for school infrastructure, covering development, renovation and new construction. Education continues to draw the highest allocation in the state budget, with Mission Education spanning LP, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools.
The programme has moved in phases. Phase I delivered 191 LP and 7 UP schools. Phase II added 100 LP schools. Phase III is delivering 117 LP schools now. Under Phase IV, tenders have been floated for over 180 new LP and secondary school buildings to replace aging structures. In total, more than 2,000 LP and UP school works have been taken up.
The upgrades include new roofs, walls, flooring, doors and windows, along with furniture, libraries and sanitation facilities in newly built or upgraded schools. Two upper primary schools highlighted in the drive are Government UPS Mowkaiaw in West Jaintia Hills and Nogorpara Government UPS in South West Garo Hills.
Officials said every site is being tracked with geotagged, time-stamped photographs. They noted that isolated pictures of schools yet to be covered do not reflect the statewide picture, as the verified data shows most government LP schools have either been renovated or are actively being worked on.
