Malta's only Muslim school will be closing its doors to secondary students in the wake of extreme financial problems, Times of Malta has learnt.

The Mariam Al Batool Muslim School has been struggling to make ends meet in recent years and staff members, including Maltese nationals, have now received their termination notices.

Set up in November 1977 on the initiative of Imam Mohammad Elsadi, in his capacity as president of the Maltese Islamic Welfare Fund, the school is housed at the Islamic Centre, in Corradino. The centre also houses the main mosque on the island.

The school, which is licensed by the Education Department and follows the national curriculum with an Islamic ethos, caters for children in Kindergarten, primary and, as from 2007, also secondary level.

It received subsidies from the government to the tune of €300,000 a year. The government had granted the school interest-free loans in 2011 and 2012, amounting to €200,000 each, without requesting any guarantees.  But this was still not enough because debt kept piling up until the situation got out of hand, forcing the school authorities to make the drastic decision.

A lack of certain important facilities and academic options

Imam Elsadi, who presides over the board of trustees, confirmed the decision when contacted and said mass redundancy would take place. He did not mention figures. He said the school faced a severe financial crisis over the last five years because funds from Libya had ceased and the number of charities the school used to depend on to cover its annual deficit kept falling.

Fees only covered a third of the annual budget because they were not based on commercial rates and the government subsidy was not enough to cover all expenses. He said the school was unable to settle its debts so the board of trustees resorted to the government to help solve its financial problems and safeguard the school “which is a unique example of cultural diversity and mutual respect”.

“According to the recent agreement, which we reached with the Education Ministry regarding the reorganisation of the school, it would only be the secondary school that should close down as of the next scholastic year for financial reasons and because of lack of certain important facilities and academic options,” the Imam said, adding that, as a result, there would be redundancies.

“While we regret the closure of the secondary school, we thank the government for its efforts and its extra financial help to safeguard the primary school and help the school to solve its financial crisis,” he said.

Malta Union of Teachers president Kevin Bonello wrote to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo about the matter, asking him to put the decision on hold until discussions were held since the union had its own alternative proposals for the school.

He told the minister the union found the news “rather disturbing”, especially because the teachers at the school were never asked for their opinion or consulted in any way, let alone their union.

The financial situation was so dire prior to the last general election that officials of both parties had visited the school and pledged to help it address its financial woes.

Only in June last year, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had promised to continue helping the school while addressing the Muslim community at the Labour Party’s headquarters in Ħamrun on the occasion of the breaking of the fast.

matthew.xuereb@timesofmalta.com