Hulhumale' needs at least six more schools: Minister

Minister of Education Dr Ismail Shafeeu has stated today that Hulhumale' needs at least six more schools to be established there in the near future.

Currently, the only school established in Hulhumale' Phase 2 is Salahuhdheen School. The Education Ministry has earlier announced that the school will be teaching in two sessions this coming academic year in a bid to accommodate the increasing number of students resulting from the growing population in Hulhumale' Phase 2.

While the school is said to have a capacity of 1700, even at present it has 2053 students enrolled in classes.

In today's parliament session, MP Ali Niyaz asked the Education Minister how many more schools are required for Hulhumale' Phase 2.

"From the information I have received, it appears that an additional 14 schools need to be set up in Hulhumale' Phases 1 and 2," Ali Niyaz said.

The Minister responded that the target is to have schools run single sessions, which would pave the way for holistic education and raise the standards of education as well.

However, he admitted that there is a major responsibility to ensure that education opportunities are provided at the locations where students live in.

He said that in addition to the school currently being constructed by RCC, at least four more schools will be needed for Hulhumale' Phase 2. Additionally, another two school need to be set up in Hulhumale' Phase 1, he said.

"I am not necessarily talking about single session schools. We can guarantee provision [of education in place of residence] through establishing six more schools in Hulhumale'," he stated.

The Minister said that as of now, over 800 school placement requests have been received from Hulhumale' Phase 2. He declared that the decision to change Salahuhdheen School to run in two sessions had been made out of necessity and not through choice.