The renovation works of the João de Deus Secondary School, aka Liceu de Faro, were officially declared completed, announced Parque Escolar. From now on, «the school community can make full use of the re-qualified facilities», according to the entity responsible for the intervention, something that had been awaited for a long time.
The process of renovating this educational establishment took more than five years, a delay that has been the subject of exhibitions in Parliament on different occasions and has been at the center of several controversies. One of them was the reluctance on the part of Parque Escolar to receive 13 classrooms, three offices, a student lounge and seven toilets for men, women and the disabled from the contractor, which were already completed, at a time when there were students taking classes in containers, a situation that happened in September 2014.
The justification, as revealed at the time by the communist deputy Paulo Sá, after visiting the Liceu de Faro, was that Parque Escolar only accepted «to receive the complete work, because otherwise they will have to pay for the intervention that has already been carried out».
a situation which was unlocked shortly after the alert made by Paulo Sá, which allowed students to stop taking classes in containers. However, the work continued for over a year, and its completion is now announced.
"The requalification project was based on three main objectives: maintaining the existing building as much as possible, adapting it to the new functional program - clarifying routes and areas for students and teachers, conquering new multipurpose areas and spaces for dining, leisure and study, and ensuring internal circulation – and valuing outdoor spaces», according to Parque Escolar.
«In addition to João de Deus Secondary School, Parque Escolar has, to date, upgraded seven schools in the district of Faro: Secondary School of Silves, Secondary School of Loulé, Secondary School of Tomás Cabreira, in Faro, Júlio Dantas Secondary School, in Lagos, Dr. Francisco Fernandes Lopes Secondary School, in Olhão, Poeta António Aleixo Secondary School, in Portimão and Vila Real de Santo António Secondary School», added the company.
This entity was created by the Minister of Education Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues, during the second Government of José Sócrates, and was mandated to carry out the requalification of schools throughout the country, namely secondary ones. A measure that was much criticized, due to the high investment it motivated, with the former governor being called to testify in the Parliamentary Committee on Education, in 2012.
According to Parque Escolar, in the 2015/16 school year, 153 schools will be intervened, with 14 educational establishments under construction. There are also six schools in the country that "are awaiting tenders for the award of works/or are in this phase".
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