Minister: Hulhumale’ urgently needs 6 more schools to guarantee education

Education Minister Dr. Ismail Shafeeu told the Parliament on Tuesday that suburban Hulhumale’ urgently needs six additional schools in order to guarantee the right to education of all children of school-going age who live there.

Shafeeu, who was summoned to the Parliament on Tuesday morning, was questioned by Hulhumale’ MP Ali Niyaz regarding the shortage of schools in his constituency, and the government’s policy to address the issue.

“How many more schools need to be built in order to cater to the people who now live in Hulhumale’ Phase II? And what’s your plan for this?” asked Niyaz, using the chance to ask follow-up questions.

Shafeeu responded that the Hulhumale’ Phase II currently has just Salahuddin School. He said that the school had received over 800 admission requests as of last week, and that the figure is expected to surpass 1,000.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to switch classes at Salahuddin School to two sessions. The Education Ministry needed to make the decision because it is entrusted with far greater responsibilities and obligations,” he said.

Shafeeu said that while the Education Ministry supports the single-session school policy, it was forced to switch to two sessions at Salahuddin School due to the sheer number of students. He said that the ministry had no other choice in order to guarantee the right to education, adding that it was their biggest priority.

“Based on our projection of when projects are done and more people move to Phase I, it needs at least two more schools to cater to everyone, even with two sessions. And Phase II needs four schools,” he said.

“That is to guarantee the right to education. I am not necessarily talking about single-session classes. The right cannot be guaranteed without establishing six more schools in Hulhumale’ as soon as possible.”

Shafeeu stressed the urgent need for more schools, citing the rapidly growing population of Hulhumale’.

There is already a school under construction in Hulhumale’ by the RCC. However, Shafeeu said that it alone is not enough, and that the suburb needs six more schools.