Úvaly and surrounding municipalities want to build a joint school for 900 children

Current building of the school in Úvaly

Úvaly (near Prague) - Úvaly near Prague and seven other municipalities in the area are planning the construction of a shared primary school for 900 children. Construction is set to begin in 2017 in the Hostín area, where the British investment company Palmer Capital wants to build a new urban district. The developer is expected to provide land for the construction. The costs are estimated at 200 to 250 million Czech crowns, with opening planned for 2019, said the mayor of Úval, Petr Borecký (Open Úval) at today’s press conference.
    "The entire project of the joint school is based on the idea that we should manage to obtain co-financing from the Ministry of Education or the state budget, because otherwise the municipalities will not be able to finance it," Borecký noted.
    The advantage is the pooling of finances; the association of municipalities also has a greater chance of obtaining a grant. In addition to Úvaly, the project should involve Dobročovice, Květnice, Zlatá, Škvorec, Sibřina, Přišimasy, and Tuklaty. "The largest burden of costs will be borne by Květnice and Úvaly, which want to have 16 classes each. Other municipalities will have one to two classes," the mayor clarified.
    This year, Úvaly expanded the primary school by seven classes for 15 million crowns. The total capacity is 750 children, which, according to Borecký, barely meets the needs of the city, and outsiders must be turned away. The same is true for spots in kindergartens. Currently, their capacity is 225 places, which is insufficient. Therefore, a new Cukrovar Kindergarten for 50 children is set to open in June, which the city is building for 24 million crowns.
    Problems with insufficient capacity in schools and kindergartens also trouble other municipalities in the vicinity of Prague. Rapid housing development often lags behind infrastructure and civic amenities. If demographic trends change in the future, it would be possible, according to Borecký, to repurpose the new school for another use. "We have agreed with the municipalities to design the primary school in the south of the city in such a way that it could relatively easily be adapted into a care home if needed," he added.