President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has requested prudence and wisdom from the instructors of the novel Maldives National Service (MNS) initiative, in building a strong generation of youth, consistent with the expectations of citizens and parents alike.
The President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), made the request at a meeting with instructors of the MNS held at the headquarters of the MNDF, Bandaara Koshi, on Thursday.
In his address, the President urged instructors to instil the values of Islam and patriotism in the youth and build them to be people who display good conduct and discipline who become national assets.
President Dr Muizzu interpreted the massive response, with approximately 900 applications so far without any promotional campaigns, as a testament to the desperate need among parents for such a programme and the support for the programme amongst youth. He expressed his desire to develop and expand MNS as a widely accepted, popular, and standardised programme, and urged instructors to implement the programme in a manner that it would yield the expected results.
The National Service Programme is a singular initiative by President Dr Muizzu that aims to nurture a strong generation of youth who embody national spirit, Islamic faith, responsibility and are mentally and physically strong as well as disciplined.
The National Service Programme is designed to revive national spirit and patriotism among youth, nurture a people with a deep appreciation for Islam, build a community that would readily face national service in times of danger or crisis, facilitate recruitment and training of youth needed to increase the strength of the security forces, and instil the values of camaraderie, cooperation, discipline and ethics, mutual respect and forbearance in words and actions among Maldivian youth.
Minister of Defence, Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, Chief of Defence Force, Major General Ibrahim Hilmy, Vice Chief of Defence Force, Brigadier General Ahmed Ghiyas, and General Officers of the Maldives National Defence Force attended Thursday’s meeting, alongside instructors and officials of MNS.
Applications for the Maldives National Service opened on 30 April 2025. As of 28 May 2025, a total of 891 applications have been received. The deadline for applications is 12:00 AM on 1 June 2025.