Minister of Education Dr. Aishath Ali has said that Information and communications technology (ICT) needs to be a key part of the education sector. She made the remark while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Atoll Education Development Project.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Aishath said communities in the Maldives are geographically isolated, which poses administrative challenges in providing educational resources to students. She said that the best solution is to establish labs for ICT, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and vocational education in key schools across the country. She added that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need to implement the latest technological solutions and make ICT a key part of the education sector.
The total financing of the Maldives Atoll Education Development Project is USD10 million, which is comprised of a USD4.5 million grant and a USD4.5 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional credit window for developing countries, and a contribution of USD1 million of counterpart funds from the Government of the Maldives.
The Maldives Atoll Education Development Project will support the government in improving the quality of secondary education in subjects of strategic importance for economic development such as English language, mathematics, science, and skills education. Improved learning outcomes at the secondary education level in these strategic subjects will help more students qualify for higher secondary education. Schools will be encouraged to adopt environment-friendly behaviors like saving energy and reducing waste and support will be provided to 28 schools to expand their ICT and STEM equipment while also improving the skills of teachers to address the needs of students with learning challenges. The skills of school principals, management officials, and teachers will also be improved through targeted programmes.