Ministry unveils seven key school upgrades for new academic year

• The Ministry of Education has established standards for each of the seven items and urged educational districts to comply.

•  For flooring, the standards cover the condition of school yards, floors in theaters, playgrounds in kindergartens and elementary schools, cafeterias, outdoor playgrounds, and mosque carpets.

The Ministry of Education is preparing for the 2024-2025 academic year by focusing on seven key areas for both new and existing schools: furniture, air conditioning, lighting, flooring, bathrooms, refrigerators, and doors and windows, according to Al Rai newspaper.

In its report on school equipment, the ministry established standards for each of the seven items and urged educational districts to comply.

For flooring, the standards cover the condition of school yards, floors in theaters, playgrounds in kindergartens and elementary schools, cafeterias, outdoor playgrounds, and mosque carpets.

The report also addressed walls and paint, emphasizing the importance of maintaining clean paint in classrooms, ensuring security and safety around the school fence, and checking the condition of walls in the theater, cafeteria, and bathrooms.

Regarding refrigerators and bathrooms, the report included standards for sanitary tools, external sinks, wastebaskets, and the cleanliness of water coolers, filters, and tanks.

He addressed the condition of doors and windows, which requires monitoring in various areas: administration rooms, classrooms, teachers’ wings, laboratories, school clinics, cafeterias, physical education halls, theaters, mosques, and guard rooms.

The report also highlighted the need to check the air conditioning in these areas, including administration rooms, classrooms, teachers’ wings, school clinics, physical education halls, theaters, mosques, and guard rooms.

Regarding furniture, he emphasized the importance of inspecting the condition of furniture in administration rooms, student chairs and tables in classrooms, teachers’ tables and blackboards, and chairs and tables in laboratories.

Lastly, the report stressed the need to verify the lighting in administration rooms, bathrooms, classrooms, teachers’ wings, laboratories, school clinics, physical education halls, theaters, mosques, and guard rooms.

It is worth noting that the school preparations follow-up team monitors these tasks annually in coordination with the engineering affairs departments in the regions, reporting the completion rates for each item separately to the team leader, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, for review and guidance.