School overhaul after 18 years of protests

Gandía school to be finished 18 years after road-block protests were staged over the state of the building

A BATTLE that has been ongoing since at least 2005 could be over within the next three years – Gandia's Ausiàs March high school is set to be renovated and the job was put out to tender this week.

Around 15 years ago, pupils' and teachers' fight for their building to get a drastic overhaul stopped traffic on the main Paseo de las Germanías for several days on the trot – a massive sign was draped across the façade reading: Açó cau! (This is falling down!) as students gathered on the steps with placards and whistles.

Very few drivers, even those in a hurry, complained, since the appalling state of the school building was widely known.

It will be too late for those students, however, since by the time the works are complete, anyone born in that year will be starting university.

But the children of the original protesters will take lessons in brand new classrooms built in the main centre and on an adjoining plot.

The new school will include 16 class groups for ESO (Secondary), eight for Bachillerato and two for FP Básica (basic professional training).

Once work starts at the end of this year, the 600 students will have to spend the next two years in portable classrooms on a plot next to the Falla Museum, which had been previously used by Sant Francesc de Borja primary school pupils whilst their centre was being renovated.

Extending and upgrading the Ausiàs March school will take until at least December 2022, and it is likely pupils will not return to the building until the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.

But the parents and teachers association says it is worth spending that time in prefabs to know that the work will be carried out at last.

With a budget of just over €8 million, so far eight civil engineering companies have applied for the contract.