The practical construction of the Kamadhoo School building project in Kamadhoo, Baa Atoll, will be completed during the second term of this academic year, Dr Ismail Shafeeu, Minister of Education, Higher Education and Skills Development, assured.
The clarification came in response to an inquiry from Mauroof Zakir, the member of parliament for Kendhoo, who sought a definitive timeline for when students might occupy the promised facility. The planning phase has concluded, and physical work is poised to begin early in the second term with completion expected before the term ends, Minister Shafeeu detailed during Tuesday's parliamentary session.
Although initially designated under the previous Maldivian Democratic Party administration, the initiative languished because adequate funding was not allocated in the budget by the time of the presidential transition. "When President Dr Mohamed Muizzu's administration commenced in 2023, the parliament of the time had not budgeted the necessary funds for the project for that year," the minister elaborated.
To address these fiscal shortfalls, the current administration formulated a comprehensive structural plan for the education sector in 2024, expanding the original blueprint of two classrooms and an office into a facility comprising six classrooms and an administrative building.
Technical experts recently finalised all architectural designs and structural blueprints. "Asserting that the construction-related work is not progressing at all is an incorrect statement," Minister Shafeeu maintained, adding that these tasks are directly connected to the project.