Manabadi Nadu-Nedu 699 schools to get a makeover in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: After the makeover exercise of 1,130 schools in the first phase, 699 schools are gearing up to paint a fresh look in Visakhapatnam as a part of the next phase of the Manabadi Nadu-Nedu flagship programme.In line with the ambitious project of the State government that aims to enhance the learning outcomes of children and prevent school dropouts, measures are in place to initiate work at the earliest.

From the nine parameters considered in the first phase of the Manabadi Nadu-Nedu, additional classrooms are added to the list, taking the count of the parameters to 10.

As a part of the second phase of the endeavour, 593 Mandal Praja Parishad and Zilla Parishad schools, 57 municipal schools, 30 government schools, 18 Tribal Welfare Schools along with Diet institution from Bheemunipatnam will go through a makeover.

As per the National Education Policy-2020, pre-primary schools will merge with primary schools. Also, the third, fourth and fifth classes of the primary sections that fall below 1-km radius will be attached to high schools. "The additional classrooms component has been added to the parameters' list to make way for the merging process. Groundwork related to the task has recently been completed," says M Satya Prasad, District Planning Coordinator of Samagra Shiksha.

In order to accommodate the increased student strength, close to 185 schools will have additional classrooms this time. Besides, some of the Anganwadi centres will also go through a transformation. About 1,130 schools were selected for the development at a cost of Rs 312 crore in the first phase of the programme. Comparatively, the count has, however, come down in the next phase.

Currently, the department officials are drawing up an action plan to figure out an estimated cost of the works to be carried out with the involvement of the new parents committee.

While 367 schools in Agency areas across 11 mandals went through a change in the first phase of the endeavour, the count has been confined to 53 in the second phase. However, AP Panchayat Raj Department which was among the five executive agencies that executed the first part of the project along with Andhra Pradesh Education and Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation, Samagra Shiksha, Tribal Welfare and Municipal Administration and Urban Development will be replaced with the Road and Buildings Department.