No plans to reassign Izzudheen School premises to another entity: Education Minister

Minister of Education Dr Ismail Shafeeu has assured today that there are no plans to reassign the premises where Izzudheen School is run to any other parties or to relocate any other schools to there.

The Minister has offered these assurances after many rumours of reassignment abounded amongst parents after the issue of a crack in the school infrastructure recently arose.

A large crack in the building's infrastructure of Izzudheen School, which has been in operation for four years, was observed last month. The Education Ministry is currently running assessments in collaboration with other relevant authorities to evaluate the safety of the building.

In a meeting held with parents of Izzudheen school students, the Ministry has said that after the assessment, there might be a necessity to move the students elsewhere. The ministry said then that a final decision on the matter will be reached after they receive the assessment report from the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure.

Mihaaru News posed a question to the Minister regarding the rumours on social media, and amongst the parent community, that the school building is to be reassigned to adjacent institute, Villa College.

The Minister unequivocally rejected all such claims.

He stated that the building is not going to be issued to any other entities, nor will any other schools be relocated there.

"I do not believe in giving the place to another group after saying that the building itself is unsafe for the students of Izzudheen School. What we are facing is a crack in Izzudheen School's building structure," he said.

Earlier, a senior official of the Ministry said that a decision on closing down the school or transferring the students to another school has not been reached as of yet. They said even then that a decision on further action that will be taken regarding the school will only be reached after receiving the results of the assessments.

Some parents have stated that they were told by the school's principal that two teams who evaluated the damage have said the structure is not safe to continue housing classes.

Rumours amongst the parents' community include talk that the building will be handed over for expansion of Villa College, as well as that it will be allocated as additional premises for Centre for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE).

The Ministry rejects all such rumours as baseless.

The parents also raised concerns that there are indications that the students of Izzudheen School may be transferred to nearby Dharumavantha School. The ministry, however, said that no such decision has been reached yet.

Izzudheen School is the first school in Male' to start single session education. This year, Grade 10 studies have also been introduced in the school, with the student population exceeding 600.