Another thing I’m working on in Nizhnekamsk is getting a proper refurbishment done at Secondary School No.1 - one of the oldest schools in the city. In the first place, something needs to be done about the lighting, the assembly hall needs to be sorted out (it’s got a bad floor, the chairs are very old and unusable, and the heating doesn’t work properly), the canteen needs redecorating, and the kitchen needs some decent equipment.
By the way, it would be a good idea to re-build the school’s greenhouse to provide fresh vegetables and greens for the kids. The experts estimate this will cost no more than 2 million roubles.
In addition, the classrooms need to be put in order and equipped with modern furniture and interactive screens, and the obsolete equipment in the chemistry and physics classrooms and the workshops needs to be replaced. It ought to be not only bright and warm for the kids, but also interesting for them to learn.
And then, of course, I couldn’t ignore the problems of the sports hall. They are pretty obvious: the basketball boards are old and too high up, there are no wall ladders, and there’s very little sports equipment – balls, rackets and skis. Kids in the junior classes have to bring their own skis to class and this, of course, makes things more difficult for the littlie ones. The gymnasium floor isn’t up to modern standards either (it should have a self-leveling surface), and the wooden ladder by the entrance is too steep - the kids might fall off it.
I’ve probably not listed all the problems, but one thing is clear: the school needs some new up-to-date equipment and serious renovation, both inside and out. Because in a beautiful modern school any child would want to learn.