Aberdeen City Council’s education convener believes they are building the foundations of children’s futures brick by brick.
Councillor M. Tauqeer Malik leads the local authority’s education operational delivery committee and feels their multi-million-pound schools building scheme will benefit youngsters.
The city council’s capital programme will lead to the opening of four new schools, in Milltimber, Countesswells, Torry and Tillydrone, delivered by summer 2022 at a cost of £100 million.
Mr Malik said: “My background is in business but I’ve always had an interest in education.
“Parents, guardians and children value education and I want to work with them to give them the best start.
“We are investing in schools in Aberdeen and the biggest challenge for us is improving education so that is why we are building new schools.
“The new schools will be very effective for children to learn in.
“We are going to build a number of new schools and these will be open by 2023. We want to invest in schools and we see that most other councils aren’t building schools like us.”
Milltimber Primary is one of four new schools being built and the single-storey facility will have space for 434 primary and 60 nursery pupils.
It will also include 14 classrooms and an activity area, as well as an all-weather 3G synthetic sports pitch.
A new primary school will be built in Torry at the site of the former academy, in the west of the city at Countesswells and at the site of the former Tillydrone Infant School on Coningham Gardens.
As well as new schools in Aberdeen, Mr Malik has also praised the work carried out by the council’s education department during the pandemic.
He said: “Covid-19 has impacted on everybody. It is a global issue.
“The education team were on top of every single issue and they’ve done absolutely brilliantly. There’s no question.”
