This is the moment Shakira’s GBP 3 million mega-school is turned into a swimming pool after a heavy downpour exposed construction issues less than a month after its inauguration.

From the footage, water can be seen dripping from the ceiling as children play in the flooded school, established by pop icon Shakira in her hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, on 16th September.

Her school, the Nuevo Bosque Pies Descalzos School, resulted from a collaboration between Shakira’s Pies Descalzos Foundation, FC Barcelona Foundation, LCI Education Foundation, and the city’s mayor, Jaime Pumarejo, aimed at serving over a thousand children in Barranquilla and its surroundings.

However, just 20 days after its inauguration, the school suffered flooding due to heavy rains, which also affected homes in Barranquilla.

This incident has raised concerns about the project’s execution and auditing processes and has left parents and the educational community dissatisfied, as this was the first rainfall in the area since the school’s construction.

The Secretary of Education of Barranquilla has reassured the public that they will take measures to ensure the safe return of students to the school, adding that they are working on improving drainage channels.

The school has a total area of 6,000 square metres and a cost of COP 15.1 billion (about 3 million GBP).

The school reportedly boasts state-of-the-art facilities, including classrooms for preschool, primary, and high school levels, a library, modern laboratories, and technology classrooms.

The school is also a centre for adult development.

Shakira’s dedication to education continues with the construction of a new mega-school in the Catatumbo area, Norte de Santander, near the Venezuelan border.