The Government of the Azores published today in the Official Journal the opening of a public tender for the awarding of the contract work for the construction of the new facilities of Calheta Basic Education and Secondary School on São Jorge.

The Regional Secretariat for Education and Culture is authorised to open the procedures for the awarding of the contract work with a base value of 16 million Euros and a completion period of 24 months.

According to the Resolution published today, the construction of the new school aims to reduce the "differences between the educational offer provided by regional schools in order to eliminate inequalities and ensure the social cohesion of the archipelago."

The need to "implement a process of continuous modernisation and renewal" of regional school facilities in order to foster a "teaching practice that is adapted to syllabus contents, new methodologies as well as to the new information and communication technologies" is another relevant goal highlighted by the Resolution.

The legal document also mentions that "the advanced state of decay" of the school building and "the impossibility to adapt it to the aforementioned goals" justify the construction of a new school on the island of São Jorge.