The Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity, and Sports Department of the Canary Islands Government, led by Poli Suárez, is looking to expand the educational offerings in the municipality of Arico, in the south of Tenerife, with the creation of the new Abades Compulsory Education Centre (CEO). This new school will alleviate the student enrollments in other educational facilities in the area, which have experienced significant population growth in recent years. To achieve this, they have put out a tender for the drafting of the project for this new facility, with a base budget of €171,741.42.
The new building will be constructed on a 12,256.40 square meter plot provided by the local council and will have thirteen units with a capacity for 330 students, including 66 in the second cycle of early childhood education, 150 in primary education, and 114 in secondary education.
According to the technical specifications for the project’s drafting set out by the General Directorate of Infrastructure and Equipment, headed by Iván González, the new Abades CEO will have classrooms for early childhood, primary, and secondary education, as well as various multipurpose rooms, areas for students with specific educational support needs (NEAE), and an inclusive classroom with all its ancillary spaces (adapted full bathroom and multisensory stimulation room).
The project will also include the construction of a music room, a multifunctional hall, laboratories, a library, a gymnasium, changing rooms, a cafeteria, as well as landscaped areas and a school orchard.
The drafting contract, for which offers can be submitted until June 7 on the public sector contracting platform, has a five-month implementation period from the date of award.
This new facility will be a significant advancement for the south of Tenerife, an area that, due to the demographic increase in recent years, has also seen a substantial increase in the demand for schooling.
The Abades CEO will help ease the medium-term enrollments at the Arico Secondary School (IES), allowing students to progressively complete their studies at the new centre, and will also contribute to reducing school transport.
It will also help reduce class sizes in other schools in the municipality, such as Our Lady of Light, Villa de Arico, El Río, and especially the Virgen de Fátima primary schools, the only one located on the coast, which currently lacks sufficient capacity to accommodate all its students.
The creation of the future CEO is part of other educational infrastructure measures implemented by the Canary Islands Government in coordination with the local councils of the southern region of Tenerife, an educational infrastructure improvement “shock plan” announced by the area’s councillor, Poli Suárez, after a meeting with the municipal mayors.
