A school catering for the Muslim community in Malta has had €1.6 million in debts written off by the government.

No public announcement of the debt write-off was made.

A report by the auditor general revealed that the decision to write off the million-euro debt was taken during a June 2022 cabinet meeting, three months after the general election.

Questioned about the decision, an education ministry spokesman said the government acknowledges the crucial role of the education sector and consistently invests to ensure high-quality education.

“The decision you are referring to was influenced by considerations related to the public interest,” the spokesperson said.

Mariam Albatool is a Maltese independent, charitable and non-profit making school founded by the Muslim community.

A board of volunteer trustees administers the Paola school.

The school has long struggled to make ends meet and already benefitted from a €400,000 debt write-off by the government in 2017, after failing to honour the repayment plan.

Subsequently, the government agreed to lend the school €460,000 annually between 2019 and 2021 and €300,000 yearly after that.

Payments totalling €1.6 million were made to the school under this new loan agreement.

According to the auditor general’s report, the school bound itself to repay the interest-free loans, however, the government chose to write off the debts.

In 2017, Times of Malta reported how the school scaled down its operations by shutting its doors to secondary students in the wake of extreme financial difficulties. It continues to cater for kindergarten and primary school students.

In May 2020, during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school announced that the government would be subsidising the salaries “of every staff member”.

The school is housed at the Islamic Centre, in Corradino. The centre also houses the main mosque on the island.