Minister of Education Dr. Ismail Shafeeu has stated that the grant of USD 9.5 million will provide a comprehensive solution to the problems in the education sector. The minister made the remarks during the ceremony held to inaugurate the "Revolutionary Change in Education" project.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Shafeeu noted the decrease in the percentage of students passing the O’Level examination in the past 10 years. He also added that the number of students that complete A’Level and join universities for higher education has also been decreasing.
Citing the budget of the government allocated for education, the education minister said that these numbers are a major concern. Adding that this is not a problem that can be ignored, Minister Shafeeu stated that the desired results cannot be achieved unless the quality of teachers is raised.
Disclosing that more than 2,700 teachers are still needed for the schools in Maldives, Minister Shafeeu assured that the government would address these challenges and bring about a positive change in the education sector.
"Revolutionary Change in Education" was inaugurated by the Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef. Under the project, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has provided the government with three grants work USD 9.5 million. As such, USD five million was received as system transformation grant, USD 1.5 million was received as system capacity grant and USD three million was received as multiplier grant.
With this grant aids, the government will be establishing schools, developing educational management skills, educational planning and financing, as well as training and fielding of teachers. Additionally, the government will be introducing a new education management information system to formulate education policies.
The Global Partnership for Education is the largest private education funding organization in the world. Maldives is a member of the Board of Directors of GPE for the term 2024 January to 2026 December. As such, the Asian and Pacific countries are represented by the Minister of Education of Maldives Dr. Ismail Shafeeu.