New premises of an elementary school and a tennis court in the Skopje Municipality of Gazi Baba were inaugurated on Wednesday.

Grigor Prlicev elementary school, which has a capacity for 500 students, covers an area of 2,000 square meters. The school, constructed in line with energy efficiency standards, also offers adequate conditions for children with special needs.

For the school building to be built in the settlement known as Zelezara, the Municipality of Gazi Baba invested MKD 72 million, provided through a World Bank loan.

“It was necessary a new school to be built so as to meet the needs of the residents of Zelezara. The old pre-fabricated barracks were built exactly 50 years ago, in 1965. Generations and generations of students had studied there. Long-running problems and the conditions for studying were the main reasons that had prompted us to help the construction of a new school,” said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who was accompanied by municipal officials at the inauguration ceremony.

The successful realization of the project, he added, has allowed Zelezara to get a new and modern elementary school that will fully meet the needs of students and teachers.

Projects on the construction of new schools, sport halls, playgrounds were a rarity in the past, noted Gruevski. “As a result, many settlements and villages in Macedonia had schools that were 50, 60, 70, even 100 years old… This situation is now changed.”

“Since 2006, 70 news schools have been built, while 350 facilities have been reconstructed. A reconstruction plan is being implemented every summer. Thus, 26 schools will be overhauled over the summer,” the PM stated.

Furthermore, the new tennis court at the school is part of a government-run project that envisages 100 such courts to be built across Macedonia.

So far, 80 sport halls, 35 football courts as well as 51 multi-functional playgrounds have been built in the country.