India to repair 79 schools in north with Rs. 187 m investment

As part of its development partnership with Sri Lanka and in response to requirements projected by the Government of Sri Lanka, the Government of India is undertaking a project to repair 79 damaged schools in the three Districts of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya.

After a process of open tendering carried out locally, the High Commission has awarded the contract to a Sri Lankan construction company.  

The signing of the contract agreement, in this regard, which was held yesterday, was witnessed by Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development and Ashok K. Kantha, High Commissioner of India.

The cost of repairs of these schools is in the range of Rs. 0.50 million to Rs. 7 million depending on the size and number of buildings. The total cost of the project is Rs. 187 million. The project is expected to be completed in nine months from the award of contract.

The project has been conceived and finalised in partnership with the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education, Northern Province.

 The technical monitoring and quality inspection during the construction process will be carried out by engineers and technical officers of Zonal Education Offices under the Provincial Ministry of Education.  

The objective of the project is to assist early restoration of educational activities for children of resettled IDPs in the Northern Province and deliver a facelift to basic educational infrastructure of the region.  

It will help families send their children to schools, provide students with a decent learning environment and offer them a better future.

The project will directly benefit a community comprising about 42,000 students and 2,400 teachers and educational officers.

India has been supporting projects for rehabilitation, resettlement and well-being of displaced persons in the Northern Province in the areas of shelter (through roofing sheets and cement bags), health-care (providing emergency medical relief, organising artificial limbs refitment camps and equipping hospitals), livelihood generation (provision of fishing equipment, tractors, agricultural equipment and seeds), education (repairs of schools and setting up of vocational training centres) and infrastructure development (restoration of northern railway lines, rehabilitation of Palaly Airport and KKS Harbour).