The Agrupamento de Escolas Pedro Álvares Cabral, in Belmonte, will start classes on September 14 at the main school, leaving behind the containers where students from 5th to 12th grade had classes during the previous school year. The local mayor, António Luís Beites, guaranteed last Friday, August 28, that although there is still "a small constraint" related to the rehabilitation works, classes will start without any problem, although some loose ends in pavilions 3 and 4 may not yet be resolved.
The rehabilitation works on the four school buildings started in July last year, with the City Council awarding the contract to the company Now XXI in April 2025, for one million, eighty-nine thousand and five hundred and ten euros. Funding through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) is not at risk, since it required at least 90% of the work completed by August 31, and António Luís Beites announced that the report already showed 92% execution. The municipality has until the end of September to pay all invoices for the contract and the equipment purchased.
The original execution deadline was 12 months, but the work was halted for about two months due to the reformulation of the project, which had several deficiencies. According to the mayor, the specifications did not include several essential aspects, such as the replacement of electrical panels, only providing for the exchange of lamps for LED. The municipality will also need to invest approximately 100,000 euros in additional work and plans to proceed with the renovation of the kitchen and installation of a laboratory, which were in the application but were never addressed.
During the works, some classes were transferred to four containers installed on the school grounds, rented from the company responsible for the work for ten months, with an estimated cost of 70,000 euros. The containers were removed during the summer holiday period. The new school year starts on the 14th with the reception of students in Pre-School Education, 1st year and 5th year, Basic Education classes begin on the 15th, and Secondary Education students return on September 21.
