Honourable Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen:
First of all, I would like to thank the Ministry of Education and UNICEF Maldives for inviting me to this milestone event in the development of education in the Maldives.
I also thank the Director General of EDC, Dr. Sheema Saeed, for the kind sentiments that she has just expressed.
It is with great pleasure that I officially launch tonight, in the name of Allah, Teacher Resource Centres in all 20 of our Atolls.
Teaching has always been very close to my heart. It was my very first profession; and it is one that I continue to enjoy even today.
Education is given the highest priority in Islam. Indeed, the very first verses of the Noble Quran to be revealed to the Holy Prophet are testimony to that.
The Almighty Allah says:
“Read in the name of thy Lord, Who created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood. Read! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful. It is He who taught (the use of) the pen, taught man that which he knew not.”
Highlighting the importance and wisdom of people of learning, the Holy Prophet has said:
“The learned are the inheritors of the Prophets”.
There is no doubt that teachers and educators are among the most respected and honoured members of every society. The Maldives, of course, is no different.
Many years may have passed since we left school, but each and every one of us continue to love and respect those who tirelessly passed on their wisdom and experience to us, and thereby prepared us to face life’s many challenges.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
A few months after assuming office as President in 1978, I began a long and arduous journey to visit each and every inhabited island in the country. It took me four long years to fulfil my wish to meet all my people.
Priorities were of course very different in those days. Unlike today, the most frequent requests that I received from the people of the islands were both simple and basic. Some islands needed prayer mats and new roof thatching for their mosque. Others needed pencils and exercise books for pupils, and others stationary for the island office.
On every island, I met with the people and inquired about their wellbeing. One frequent question that I posed to them was whether they were sending their children to the local Makhthab. There were no Government schools on the islands in those days, of course.
On one island, the people responded that only two or three families were sending their children to the Makhthab, as the fees were too steep for them. When I asked them how much they were required to pay, they told me that the fee was Rf 1 per child per month!
We have come a long way since then. Today, there are Government schools on every inhabited island – most of them teaching up to secondary standard. There are atoll schools and education centres where students can sit for Cambridge and Edexcel Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations. Hundreds of our youth are now going overseas every year for higher education and returning with outstanding results.
The establishment of Teacher Resource Centres is the culmination of three important programmes in our education sector. In 1978, we began a project to make primary education universal. The project was successfully concluded in the year 2000.
In 1980, we began the Basic Education Programme aimed at making every Maldivian functionally literate. Today, the Maldives has a functional literacy rate of over 98%, which is the highest in South Asia and on par with the best in the world.
And, in 1999, we began a programme to make our students computer literate.
Simultaneously, we have implemented many teacher-training projects.
We now have over 5,700 teachers in the Maldives, two-thirds of whom are Maldivians. This increase in the number of teachers has brought the student to teacher ratio to under 30, which again is a notable achievement.
The current priority of the Government is to train more Maldivian teachers. The Resource Centres that are being launched today are therefore a very important step in this endeavour, because these centres will give teachers the opportunity to receive in-service training and refresher courses in modern teaching techniques.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
One of the greatest development challenge faced by the Maldives is its geographic dispersion and high transport and logistical costs. Every sector has had to face this hurdle in its development endeavours. The education sector is no exception.
The most appealing characteristic of the new EDC website and the TRCs, therefore, is their utilization of modern technology as an education tool. In particular, the use of Broadband Internet connectivity to make learning interactive will no doubt yield much better results.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
No country can develop without the necessary human resources. I firmly believe that the increasing levels of education and awareness in the Maldives have played a key role in the remarkable progress the country has attained in recent decades.
Ours is a country that is hungry for success. The people are ready to strive for greater heights of development. The Government is fully committed to facilitating and encouraging the people to realize this dream.
I take this opportunity to thank UNICEF Maldives for its partnership role in the development of education in the Maldives. Indeed, the support and assistance that UNICEF is extending towards post-tsunami recovery in the Maldives is making a telling difference.
Our education sector was among the first to offset the infrastructure damage from the tsunami. The sector is making remarkable improvements through initiatives such as the establishment of TRCs and child-friendly schools.
I wish to, therefore, thank the Minister of Education for her vision and dedication to develop education in the country to the highest level possible. I also thank all the administrators and teachers who have worked tirelessly to ensure that our children enjoy a bright and prosperous future.
Thank you.