Ministry of Education has announced that three schools will be opened for the new academic year.
Speaking to PSM News, Deputy Minister of Education Mohamed Ihsan said the new Dharumavantha School building will be opened for the new academic year and that teaching will also begin at the newly developed Salahuddin School in Hulhumale’ Phase II and the new Centre for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) building in Hulhumale' Phase I.
Additionally, one of the most important policies of the administration is to facilitate single sessions in schools by constructing new buildings and classrooms and allocating additional resources. In this regard, Deputy Minister Ihsan said that several schools will transition to single sessions for the new academic year, noting that some schools in the atolls converted to single sessions during the previous year. He added that Izzuddin School currently stands as the only school teaching in a single session in Male’ but that Dharumavantha School will be converted to a single-session school for the new academic year.
The construction of Dharumavantha School is nearly complete. SJ Construction was awarded the contract for the construction of the new building at a cost of over USD4.8 million. The new Dharumavantha School is developed as the first school under the concept of holistic education. The school will have 41 classrooms with a capacity of 25 students per classroom. The school will also include a two-storey library as well as facilities for sports and other extra-curricular activities. In addition, the new CHSE building will be constructed on 2,406 acres of land in Hulhumale Phase I while the new Salahuddin School has six floors and will have a capacity of between 1000-1200 students.
Furthermore, Permanent Secretary at the Education Ministry Ahmed Ali said that students received their stationary vouchers before the holidays and the ministry is currently focused on providing the books they need for the new academic year. As such, he emphasised that all necessary books will be shipped to schools by July 15, guaranteeing that every student will have access to the required materials. He reassured the public that all essential textbooks have been printed and are currently stored in warehouses, ready to be distributed to students across the country.
As part of the distribution policy, the ministry will provide 100% new textbooks for students in grades 1-6. In the case of students in higher grades, 40% of the textbooks will be sourced from used books returned by students from the previous academic year while all workbooks provided to students will be brand new.