TEHRAN – By the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20), benefactors are expected to donate 80 billion rials (about $200 million) for the construction of schools across the country.
Benefactors have so far donated 46 billion riyals (about $115 million), ISNA was quoted as saying by Hamidreza Khanmohammadi, director of the Organization for School Development, Renovation and Equipment.
By the end of the year, the figure is expected to reach 80 trillion riyals (about $200 million), he added.
Last year, benefactors donated 34 billion riyals (about 85 million US dollars) and the administration also allocated 31 billion riyals (about 77 million US dollars) for school construction, he noted.
He went on to say that 13 percent of the schools need to be rehabilitated and 6 percent (33,000 classrooms) need to be demolished and rebuilt.
Some 300 billion rials (about 750 million US dollars) are needed to rebuild the schools, he said.
Referring to the issue of ‘schools of the future’, he said: “When we build a school, it must be used for at least 50 years. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the educational needs of the next generations in the construction of a school”.
Half of the schools across Iran are built with the participation of benefactors, said Mohammad Reza Jafari, executive director of the Association of School Construction Donors.
Nearly 40,000 donors are active and involved in building schools across the country, he said, adding that more than 49 percent of the schools, totaling 150,000 classrooms, in the country are built with the participation of the benefactors of the school construction.
The construction of sports spaces, libraries and the development of smart schools are among the current needs in the construction of schools, he stressed.
On January 10, the first national event on schools of the future was held with the aim of promoting the use of knowledge-based technologies in schools.
The Organization for the Development, Renovation and Equipment of Schools, in cooperation with the Barekat Foundation, organized the event according to the slogan of the current year established by the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as ” The year of production: based on knowledge and job creation”. ”.
The event highlighted the role of technology in the modernization of schools, as well as educational and sports spaces.
The Majlis (Iranian Parliament) has approved a special budget to support the construction of schools throughout the country.
Consequently, the Ministry of Education must spend one percent of the revenue of state-owned companies and the net profits of banks and private institutions to build schools in deprived areas online with the aim of promoting educational justice.
Due to the promotion of participatory culture in school construction, school construction donors allocated 39 billion riyals last year, compared to 170 billion riyals in 1998 when the Association of Donors for School Construction was established. Construction of Schools, said Education Minister Yousef Nouri.
The national “Brick by Brick” plan was started in the year 1399 (March 2020 – March 2021), with the aim of attracting public participation for the construction of schools in deprived areas even by buying a brick.
Iran has many school building benefactors numbering 650,000 people inside and 1,000 people outside the country.
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