Ministry assures to restore Dhiffushi school by start of academic year

Ministry of Education has said that Kaafu Dhiffushi school, which was burned down during a fire early this morning, will be restored to function normally by the start of the 2014 academic year.

Senior officials of the ministry travelled today to Dhiffushi to assess the damage. Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education Abdul Muhsin Mohamed, who visit the school today, said the ministry is working on assessing the damage with the help of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

“From the three buildings in the school, the building housing the classrooms was alright. The building with the administrative office and library was burnt down. We will work to make the service block fully functional by the school starts,” Muhsin said.

Funds need to be raised for the restoration work, but the Education Ministry officials said they were confident it can be achieved by the start of the academic year.

The fire was discovered 3:30 a.m. last night and extinguished two hours later with the help MNDF, firemen from Meeru Island Resort and a group of locals. The office building houses the school’s library, computer lab, printing room and two storage rooms, which were completely destroyed.

The school’s security guard, who was on duty when the fire started, suspects electrical shortage to be the likeliest cause of the fire.