Education Minister Dr. Ismail Shafeeu has underscored the possibility of teachers requiring to attend work even if schools are closed for the whole month of Ramadan.  
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu declared the last 10 days of Ramadan as government holidays in order to allow the public to engage more in religious activities. As this year’s annual school holidays coincided with Ramadan, the government decided to close schools for the whole month of Ramadan.
While speaking during the first episode of ‘Rayyithunna Eku’ podcast on Wednesday, President Muizzu announced that his administration is exploring the feasibility of closing schools for Ramadan each year, without affecting the total number of teaching hours, starting next year, citing positive feedback from parents this year.
Minister Shafeeu, via a Facebook post on Thursday, said with the government being closed for the last 10 days of Ramadan, working days in Ramadan amount to 12 or 13 days. As per the Minister, teaching content of only six normal days can be covered within these 12 or 13 days.
According to the Minister, many parents have requested closure of schools for Ramadan as the 12 or 13 days where students have to presently attend schools during the holy month can possibly be covered within some six days in normal months.
The Minister noted that records also show a large number of students fail to attend school regularly during Ramadan while teachers, in contrast to normal months, take more sick leaves or family obligation leaves.
“For these reasons, teaching is not implemented efficiently,” he added.
Minister Shafeeu stated that, rather than following the usual teaching schedule during Ramadan, schools implement project-based learning, conduct religious awareness programs, and hold activities and competitions to boost students' interest in the Holy Quran, along with literary competitions.
He further said professional development programs targeted for teachers will also be carried out during these days.
Despite these changes, the Minister stressed that students in key stages four and five, preparing for international exams, will continue their studies as usual during Ramadan.
“During these days, all teachers will have to work officially. The annual leave for teachers, as usual, will be at the end of each academic year. In this regard, starting from the 2025 academic year, teachers will be getting their annual leaves in December” he added.
Minister Shafeeu noted that discussions will be held with teachers, principals and parents regarding the matter once the new academic year commences.
As per the academic calendar, the new academic year will begin on April 7th.
The academic year will conclude on December 25th, with the next academic year scheduled to commence on January 27th.
Shifting the commencement of the academic year back to January was an electoral pledge of President Muizzu.