School year: three schools could not start due to building problems

When the 2025 school year began today in Mendoza, there were three establishments that were unable to start activities. They had some building problems that made them postpone the moment. There are three out of a total of 2,400 schools that today received 463,229 students from the initial, primary, secondary and special levels.

The 1-741 Padre Mühn primary school in Maipú had an external water problem. In the same department and for the same reason, the exclusive kindergarten 0-031 Angelina Bavaresco was affected. Meanwhile, the 1-030 Isaac Chavarría primary school in Rivadavia suffered consequences from last night's storm as a pine tree fell in front of it, so there was no in-person activity today. In the school government, the General Directorate of Schools (DGE), there was no information on whether they will be active tomorrow or when it will happen.

According to the DGE, the budget for school works and repairs will be doubled this year. This means that a direct investment of $39.3 billion is expected to be achieved, and an additional $37.727 billion will be allocated for the construction of 33 new schools throughout the province.

The Minister of Education, Culture, Children and DGE, Tadeo García Zalazar, highlighted that during the summer work was done in 700 schools : “Minor and intermediate repairs were made and in some cases the opportunity was also taken to speed up the construction process of new schools (...) and from now on, during the entire month of March, we will be delivering a new building every week, at different levels, both kindergarten, primary and secondary.” He explained that a total of 10 buildings will be inaugurated this year and 22 will begin to be built.

The government announced during the summer that it is making the largest investment in years in school infrastructure. The administration highlighted the amount that they are investing in the improvement of the establishments: $22 billion.

Specifically, so far in 2025, work is being done on 100 buildings. One of the main areas of focus is painting. This is a sensitive issue that every year at the beginning of the school year generates complaints from schools that are not in good condition, with problems usually linked to the condition of the bathrooms, gas installations, ceilings and paint.