French Agency funds makeover of municipal schools in Vizag

As many as 44 municipal schools in Vizag are being given a facelift under the Smart Campus project. The project has been estimated to cost around Rs 65 crore, out of which, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) received Rs 52 crore as part of the Cities Investment to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) grant for the project, an initiative of the French Development Agency (FDA).

The Central Government in collaboration with the FDA, had conducted a challenge in 2019 to pick a few projects from smart cities. A major objective of the challenge is to replicate the initiatives taken under the smart city project outside the ABD (area-based development) part of the city chosen for the smart city mission. It is to be noted that the GVMC’s ‘Smart Campus’ proposal made the final cut of the CITIIS Challenge. In this regard, a team of officials from the French Development Agency (FDA) had initiated discussions on the school redevelopment project with the GVMC officials last year.

Speaking to Yo!, GVMC Educational Officer, Srinivas, informed that the civic body has appointed AECOM as the project management consultant. Sharing further details, he said that in order to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR), the designs were drafted in an innovative manner. The Municipal Corporation has recently discussed the proposal with the school development committee and school management as well as parents for their inputs and feedback. As part of the pilot project, HB Colony Primary School was chosen to be developed as a model school. Additionally, the K Colony Primary School which is currently housed at a private building will be shifted soon to a government-owned structure. Municipal schools at Anakapalli, Pudimadaka, Golla Veedhi, and 39 more municipal schools in Vizag will be revamped at a later stage.