Jalón valley long-awaited ‘mega-school’ opens
Serving four rural villages in the area, the €8m campus can cater for up to 560 pupils from age two to 16 years old
IN a ‘historic’ move for the education community in the rural Marina Alta, an €8 million school complex has now opened its doors.
Pupils will no longer have to travel long distances by bus or parents' cars to get to class every day, giving them a muchneeded lie-in and more free time in the evenings.
Jalón's new Sierra de Bèrnia school, which has space for up to 560 children, is the answer to local families' and teachers' prayers, as it serves the entire Vall de Pop and is right on their doorstep.
Until now, once they outgrew the overcrowded primary school, pupils had to travel to Benissa for secondary education.
Catering for all ages from two to 16 inclusive, it does not have a sixth-form, but will offer considerably more space and better facilities for preschoolers and those in compulsory education.
Huge windows let in plenty of natural light and offer mountain views, as well as cutting down electricity consumption. Solar panels on the roof will do the rest, meaning zero fossil-fuel use, and air-con and heating units mean learning and teaching in comfort yearround.
A vast playground, garden, allotments for pupils to learn about growing their own vegetables, a sports ground and athletics track, and play-park apparatus are included within the 10,377-square-metre site at the old Virgen Pobra primary school.
The old school building will shortly be demolished to make way for a gym and sports pitches and courts which should be ready for September.
Regional councillor for eduction, Raquel Tamarit visited last week.
She noted that 260 pupils are being taught by 28 teachers, and remarked on the ‘happy faces’ of the youngsters as they got used to the new facilities.
This is the first mixed primary and secondary school built in Alicante province.
“Jalón is in the interior and it is convenient to have a school which covers various stages of education so that the pupils do not have to travel to others areas,” she said.