Education Minister Dr Ismail Shafeeu has said that the government has spent an unprecedented amount on school repairs over the last two years, surpassing expenditure from the previous decade.
Various structural development projects are underway across schools in many regions of the Maldives. Efforts are being made to improve the quality of education provided in schools, including improving teacher quality, expanding resources, and resolving space constraints. While new schools continue to be built, the Education Ministry is also prioritising the repair and maintenance of existing schools.
Speaking to PSM News, the Education Minister said the government spent over USD 1.95 million on school repairs in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, repairs worth over USD 1.29 million were approved to coincide with the last school break. At the beginning of this year, over USD 2.59 million had already been spent on school repairs, with projects worth another USD 2.59 million to be approved once the school year begins, he said.
"Such a large amount of money has not been spent on school repairs in the past ten years. I have been working in the education sector for 20 years, and this much has never been spent on school repairs before,” the Minister said.
The Education Minister said the significant expenditure on school repairs is due to long-standing issues being neglected. This necessitated major repairs funded outside the regular school budget, he said.
The Minister stressed that the most important factor is having high-quality teachers in schools. He added that with sufficient resources, students across all islands will be able to achieve strong academic results.