Shakira to open seventh school in Colombia

Colombian singer Shakira is opening another school in her hometown, Barranquilla.

The “Hips Don’t Lie” hitmaker launched her Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) Foundation in 1997 and has opened six schools in the country. Institucion Nuevo Bosque will open in 2019, reported Billboard.

“When we started to build schools in Colombia 20 years ago, we chose remote areas where there was absolutely nothing at all – no infrastructure, roads or even potable water,” a statement from the singer



reads.

“We built schools where the government was absent and thousands of children didn’t have access to quality education.The transformation was immediate – jobs were generated, malnutrition plummeted and the students responded well academically.”

In December last year, another one of Shakira’s schools, which was established in 2009, was named the number one public school across the country in a study, which was measured on the strength of students’ test scores.