Neuquén: Record investment in Education: exceeds 120,000 million pesos

Statement from the Government of the Province of Neuquén

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

The province presented today the progress of the Educational Infrastructure Plan that is being developed throughout the Neuquén territory and that includes the execution of works for 72,500 square meters. Executive officials emphasized that the tasks are financed with provincial resources and assured that school buildings are a priority of the government management. They also stressed that there is no other province that is developing as many educational works as Neuquén .

The presentation took place this morning at the Government House and was led by the Minister of Education, Soledad Martínez; the Minister of Infrastructure , Rubén Etcheverry; the honorary president of the Provincial Unit for Liaison and Execution of Projects with External Financing (UPEFE), Tanya Bertoldi and the Secretary of Public Works, Tania Coletti.

During the ceremony, it was announced that 72,500 square meters of educational infrastructure are being built, with a total investment of 118,788 million pesos. This involves 25 new works and 31 renovations, expansions and completions of school establishments. Added to this are some 4,700 million pesos in maintenance tasks and minor interventions.

The Minister of Education stressed the importance of the provincial government's intervention and said that "it is a truly valuable and extraordinary figure to keep in mind, in this context of disinvestment by the national government, that 90% of the works we are presenting today will be financed or are being financed with provincial resources."

He highlighted the “federal conception” of provincial investment and assured that “commitments that have been in execution for a long time or pending execution” will be fulfilled.

He explained that at the beginning of the government administration "we found more than 60 educational system projects with all deadlines expired in their investment curve" and also pointed out that the education, health and security initiatives "were the priority that the governor set for us."

He indicated that the province has around 700 schools operating in some 680 buildings and highlighted that the progress presented today in the infrastructure plan covers around 60 establishments. He commented that soon there will also be a presentation of “the planning designed for four years, which is the period that we believe is possible to address this deficit of outdated infrastructure and the needs presented to us by the growth of the province.”

Martínez said that the demand for educational spaces “grows hand in hand with the growth of the province” and recalled that, according to the data from the last Census, “Neuquén grew three and a half times more than the average for the entire country.”

“Since the beginning of the administration, we have been working on the survey and on planning that allows us to address the pending demands of the educational system and to plan, in a more appropriate way or more closely linked to the development needs of the different regions of the province, the need for educational infrastructure,” he concluded.

“There is no other province in the country that is carrying out public works for schools like Neuquén,” said the Minister of Infrastructure, adding that “we are proud of the work that has been done in these months.”

“The provincial government’s funding is nothing more or less than the effort of all Neuquén residents,” said Etcheverry, adding that “the priority has always been Education.” He gave as an example the launch of the Gregorio Álvarez scholarships at the beginning of the government’s term and that the first public work project restarted was EPET Nº 1.

The minister reported that “we found more than 400 underfunded projects” and that “of the 120 that we prioritized, 40 were in education.” “We made the first assessment when we took office and there was a deficit of 5 billion dollars to have a more or less adequate infrastructure that was included in the previous plans. We are making all this effort to try to reduce this gap that exists,” he said.

“We always try to prioritize and prioritize,” said Etcheverry, adding that “often, projects that were included in previous budgets are copied into different budgets. Sometimes they appear, but that doesn’t mean that funding is guaranteed.”

For her part, Tanya Bertoldi referred to the renegotiation with companies for the reactivation of school works. She said that UPEFE's initiatives came from national funds from different programs and highlighted the "very clear and forceful decision of our governor to prioritize these works. We decided to change the source of financing and finish all the works with funds from the provincial Treasury."

“This is a very clear reflection of the fact that our top priority is educational buildings,” said Bertoldi, adding: “There is a huge demand and need, which clearly did not originate in these last few months of management. We are experiencing a gap in terms of demand and need, which we are trying to reduce with all these interventions and clear decisions of our government.”

The head of UPEFE explained that this package of educational works “responds to an immediate and urgent need in the short term,” although she announced that in the coming weeks Governor Rolando Figueroa “will present to all the people of Neuquén our medium and long-term plan.”

DETAILS OF WORKS

The Infrastructure, Public Works, Education and UPEFE representatives detailed that in the Vaca Muerta region, 5 new buildings are being built: EPET 23, 24 and 26, primary school 364 and kindergarten 87; in addition to the expansion and remodeling of primary schools 32 and 131 and CPEM 31. In the North region, schools 302, primary school 149 and CPEM 74 are new construction and primary schools 164, 79, school 225 and CPEM 94 and 80 have expansions and renovations. In the Comarca Petrolera region, new construction is being carried out on the B° Ezio Zani kindergarten and the expansion and remodeling of EPET 1, 10 and kindergarten 13.

The Confluencia region plans new works for CFP 29, EPETs 27 and 25 and the annex of EPET 22, school 360, an elementary school S/N and a kindergarten on the 127 hectare property; expansions and remodeling of elementary school 13, schools 201, 301, CPEMs 46, 53, 40 and 70, EPETs 9 and 19, EPEA 2 and kindergarten 85.

In the Central West region there are 2 new works for the Las Lajas kindergarten and the CPEM 90; also the expansion and remodeling of the 250 and 214 primary schools, school 145, the EPETs 15 and 11 and the CPEM 90. In the South region, progress is being made on 7 new works for the EPET 28 of Villa La Angostura and two more for San Martín de los Andes (the 21 and another S/N), schools 48, 116 and two primary schools, the 155 and one S/N; expansion and remodeling of schools 33, 308 and 306 and primary schools 287 and 242. Lastly, in the Limay Medio region, there is the new work for the Physical Education Center 3 and the expansion of school 129.