Local support for warmer classrooms

“I was really concerned when my son used to come back from school freezing from the cold, and although I was a member of the School Board at the time, I felt powerless to do anything about the problem with the heating in the school. Therefore, when I saw the RFP in the daily newspapers for installation of a heating system in the school, my colleagues and I decided to go with a lower price and in that way we, as a local company, to contribute for resolving this problem.“

This is how the story begins for Mende Veleski, a graduated mechanical engineer and a co-owner of Tehnoben Nova, the local company that just recently finished the reconstruction of the boiler in “Blaze Koneski” primary school in Prilep, as part of the Strengthening the Capacities of School Boards Program, managed by the USAID Primary Education Project.  
 
Earlier, the boiler was positioned 500 meters away from the school, the pipes were placed underground and there was a great loss of energy. The boiler equipment was old, and the frequent repairs cost a lot. On the other hand, the school was never warm enough and the classrooms on the last floor of the building were so cold that students had to stay with their jackets on during the classes in the winter.

“The difficulties we were facing in everyday instruction says a lot about how serious this problem was for us,” says Natasa Risteska, president of the School board in PS “Blaze Koneski”, Prilep.

The school staff points out that the School Board and the school director, Marija Dulevska, had the courage to take action and find a way to manage with the problem. Right after the call for schools’ applications for Program on Strengthening the Capacities of School Boards was announced, the School Board from this schools immediately applied with a previously prepared project and the necessary documentation.

Two boilers with power of 580 KW were installed. The boilers operate with high-level efficiency of 92%, which means that there will be optimal fuel consumption and reduced emission of exhaust fumes in the atmosphere. The Faculty of Technical Sciences in Bitola made all necessary assessments and tests. The expected fuel consumption is 47 litres per hour, while the first savings are expected during this next winter season.   

“A total number of 950 students and 73 employees will feel the benefit from this investment no later than the next school year, but many future generations will also enjoy the convenience of the new heating system.” says Dulevska.  

“The solution to this problem is only a part of our involvement in this Program. In the last few months, the School Board attended a series of intensive trainings. All the members of the School Board were always eager to attend the workshops, as well as the mentoring sessions. The fundraising event helped us learn how to organize events in a professional way, how to lobby local authorities and local public and private companies and how to show them all the sore problems in education. “ Risteska says.

“USAID Primary Education project and PS “Blaze Koneski” hold a successful cooperation through the years. The floor in the school building was replaced as part of the component for “School renovations” and the school is active in the “Green Schools” Program. We have participated in almost all trainings organized by PEP, and we are pioneers in the use of robotics in the curricula. Recently, we managed to strengthen the capacity of the School Board and by that, we improve the future and the education of our students.” concluded the school director Dulevska.

“Only those who have been to the school know what kind of problem we are talking about. We had to use additional heating devices but still students had to stay with their jackets on during the winter.’’ Marija Dulevska, school director

 

All the activities were in line with the expected dynamic. Only high quality materials were used and all the tests made gave positive results.” Iljco Jovanoski, supervisor of the boiler reconstruction

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