New Delhi govt school to have sports block, 52 classrooms, 8 labs — to be ready in a year

New Delhi: The Delhi government, in a bid to provide top-class school infrastructure in the city's state-run schools, has now unveiled the design for the new Mehram Nagar School of Specialised Excellence, which will have a separate block for sporting activities, a volleyball and a tennis court on the roof of the building and a semi-Olympic sized swimming pool.

Laying the foundation stone for the school building on Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the school was meant to be designed in a way that every part of the campus can contribute to children's learning.

The main school building is being designed to accommodate 52 classrooms — with eight laboratories (2 on each of four floors) and a mechanism to harvest rainwater is also being worked into the plans, according to officials.

The new school is estimated to cost Rs 39.73 crore to the Delhi government and is expected to be ready within a year.

While addressing the media Sisodia who is also the Education Minister said that the new building of the school has been designed keeping in mind the overall development of the children. This school building will be different from the normal schools and the entire school premises would be involved in the learning process of the children.

Each of the 52 classrooms will be equipped with all modern facilities of teaching. Smart classrooms suitable for digital learning will be built and will have all the facilities to provide for the needs of the students.

In addition, the school premises will have an auditorium, with a seating capacity of 800 people, and an open-air amphitheatre that can seat 1,000 people.

Among other sports facilities at the school will be a semi-Olympic size swimming pool with heating and cooling facilities. The length of the pool will be 25 meters and the width will be 12.5 meters to "allow maximum children to practice swimming at the same time", the Delhi government said in a statement.

To facilitate the sports facilities, a separate block has been designated in the school building. All sports-related facilities will be available in this block. In addition, the school will also have a court for indoor sports activities like squash and table tennis, the government statement added.

At the foundation stone laying, Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister, said he hoped children will bring laurels to India from all over the world after receiving an education at schools such as this one.