Chennai: Corporation schools get new look with better facilities

CHENNAI: Bharath, a Class VIII student of Chennai High School on Manikandan Road in Royapuram, was in for a pleasant surprise when he returned to school after the Covid lockdown. Gone was the leaky roof and cracked walls; his classroom now was spick and span.
This is just one of the 28 schools that the Greater Chennai Corporation plans to transform under the CITIIS (City Investments To Innovate, Integrate and Sustain) programme at a cost of Rs 99 crore.
The programme is managed by the National Institute of Urban Affairs and financed by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs, the French Development Agency and the European Union. The civic body had earlier planned to renovate 48 schools, but cut the list short for lack of funds.
The project in four schools – on Manikandan street in Royapuram, New market, Kottur, and Nesapakkam – will be completed by March 2022.
The civic body plans to expand this project under Singara Chennai 2.0 and revamp all 281 corporation schools at a cost of Rs 1,525 crore by seeking funds from NGOs, corporates and other funding agencies.
P Prakasam, headmaster of Royapuram corporation school, said the school will get its first sports infrastructure in the form of a volleyball court under this project. “We will also get airconditioned staff rooms, a dining room, a STEM lab, new primary block, improved toilets and mid-day meal kitchens,” he said.
Raji, a primary school student, told TOI that she always wanted facilities like in private institutions in her school. “We are very excited and happy. Our classrooms now look so lively,” she said.
However, the teachers wanted the civic body to also improve furniture. In most schools, children in the primary sections sit on the floor. The education department had received letters from more than 100 schools seeking better furniture. An official said, they will look at external funding for that as it wasn’t included in this project.
A corporation official told TOI the idea was to bring corporation schools on a par with private schools. “We have the best teachers. Infrastructure was lacking. This is all set to change now,” said the official.