In the Vitebsk region, 26 buses will be purchased for transporting schoolchildren by the new academic year

July 6, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. 26 buses will be purchased in the Vitebsk region to transport schoolchildren to the new academic year, the head of the education department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Ivan Shchurok told a BELTA correspondent. Tenders for their purchase have been announced. It is planned that the new transport will arrive at educational institutions by September 1. Br4.5 billion has been allocated from the regional budget to update the bus fleet, which currently numbers 174 units. Local authorities will allocate the same amount for these purposes. Ivan Shchurok noted that the primary task at the moment is the preparation of schools. Repair work is actively underway in all educational institutions of the region: wallpapering and painting of premises, replacement of window units, updating of equipment and inventory. The progress of this work is under constant control. "In the last few days alone, I have visited the Orsha and Glubokoye districts. For example, the regional executive committee has allocated an additional Br4.5 billion for the preparation of educational institutions in the Glubokoye district," Ivan Shchurok noted, adding that the work is being financed, as far as possible, both from local authorities and from the regional budget. Mass acceptance of schools will begin on July 15. It is planned to complete this work within a month. Among the new facilities being opened in the Vitebsk region this year are a sports hall and a canteen at the Orekhovskaya Secondary School in the Orsha district, and a new kindergarten in the Bilevo microdistrict of the regional center. A kindergarten and a primary school-kindergarten for 400 places are under construction in Polotsk and Novopolotsk, respectively. Their commissioning is scheduled for 2013. -0-