Year: 2011

Invigilators suspended as police investigate Milandhoo exam fraud

Three exam monitors at Milandhoo School in Shaviyani Atoll have been suspended pending a police investigation into exam fraud, after the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) annulled the grades of students in the latest O’Level maths examination.

CIE markers raised concerns about the similarity of students’ answers in the exam, and a lack of working (mathematics exams typically award partial marks for correct working even if the final answer is incorrect). As a result, the 38 students who sat the exam will receive no grade in the O-Level maths exam.

Milandhoo Council’s President Mohamed Yasir confirmed that police have commenced questioning students that sat the exams.

”Police have declined to provide further information to the council as well, until the investigation is closed,” Yasir said, adding that the three exam invigilators – two aged over 30 and another 23 – were suspended temporarily.

A student who sat for the examinations told local newspaper Haveeru that the students “were tricked as someone changed the contents of the papers [after completion].”

“We can say again and again that we never cheated in the examination. Someone changed the papers after we did the examination.”

Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer said that the affected students should be able to resit “the next available exam. I don’t think there are any restrictions.”

He said the Education Ministry had pledged to investigate the matter “as thoroughly as possible”, and take action if malpractice was identified.

The investigation was nearly complete, he said: “We are in close contact with CIE and they are waiting for the police report.”

Milandhoo school was ranked second in the Maldives last year in the O’Level exam results. Dr Nazeer said the Ministry did not have suspicions that any alleged exam fraud had been ongoing.

“[CIE] has always commended the Maldives for taking high security precautions when conducting examinations,” he said. As well as staff training, police were present in every exam hall and the safes containing the exam papers only had one key. Further measures, he said, such as the construction of a safe room for the papers, “would be very expensive for the Ministry.”

Former Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy, now the Chancellor of the new Maldives National University, expressed deep concern about the incident and its potential impact on the reputation of the country’s education system.

”If it happened that invigilators assisted the students, or if they are found to be at fault, then it is a much more serious issue,” said Dr Musthafa. ”They are supposed to be setting an example for the students.”

Dr Musthafa also warned that while the incident could shake CIE’s confidence in the Maldives’ conduct of examinations, ”I do not think they would discontinue providing examinations for the Maldives,” he said.

He added that strict actions should be taken against the culprits to avoid a repeat of the incident, which had ultimately impacted the students.

”It is truly a regrettable incident,” he said. ”Cambridge will not take action against the invigilators or school staff, but they can take action against the students.”

Head of Milandhoo School Ahmed Zaheen had not responded to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

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Hyatt Hotels enters Maldives resort market

International hospitality group the Hyatt Hotels Corporation has this month entered the Maldives tourist market for the first time with the rebranding of a resort property on Hadahaa Island in Gaafu Alifu Atoll under its name.

The company has said that as of April 1 this year, an affiliate of the company had entered into an agreement with Driftwood Maldives Private Ltd to operate the resort as the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa.

According to the resort’s operators, since opening back in 2009 as Alila Villas Hadahaa, the property has the been first destination in the country to work towards Earth Check certification standards that aim to outline more sustainable practices for hospitality groups.

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa contains 50 villas replete with private decks, as well as boasting bedrooms with living areas.  The company has claimed that 14 of these properties are also situated directly over the country’s much lauded-waters.

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Bhutanese PM meets with President Nasheed

Visiting Prime Minister of Bhutan Leonchen Jigmi Yoezer Thinley, also the Chairman of SAARC, and President Mohamed Nasheed met last week to discuss the upcoming SAARC summit, as well as further cooperation in tourism and economic development.

Maldives hosting of the SAARC Summit will be the first to be held in the Southern hemisphere. The 16th SAARC Summit was held last year in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Thinley noted that both countries shared many similarities and the hopes and aspirations of both peoples were the same, and that both Bhutan and the Maldives could learn from each others’ experiences.

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Court must rule on atolls’ administrative centres, says Nasheed

President Mohamed Nasheed has said that higher courts must interpret the Decentralisation Act and determine which island becomes the centre of the each atoll, after Funadhoo’s Court yesterday declare itself the centre of Shaviyani Atoll.

Nasheed said the government would appeal the court’s ruling if the Attorney General found it did not favour the state.

“The government wants a final court ruling on the matter in order to define jurisdiction of each party involved in implementation of both principles and processes of decentralisation stipulated by both Decentralisation Act and the Constitution,” the President’s Office said in a statement.

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Authorities to conduct security seminar for resorts

Tourism authorities in the Maldives are holding a seminar this week to help resort improve security measures, after several recent robbery attempts.

The seminar will be held in conjunction with police, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), and the Maldives Association for Tourism Industry (MATI), reports Haveeru.

Last week a group of men wearing masks attempted to rob Baros Island Resort and Spa, one of whom died during the attempt.

A group of men also robbed the safe of Kihaadhuffaru resort in Baa Atoll, using cable-ties to restrain the receptionist.

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Maldivian crewmen stranded in Greece and Malaysia

Eight Maldivians on a cargo ship in Malaysia and four in Greece are stranded, reports Haveeru, after claiming that the shipping company ceased paying them when it was unable to deliver goods to Libya because of the political unrest.

One of the Maldivians stranded in Greece told Haveeru that he had not been paid since December, and was unable to send money home to his family.

“The company keeps on telling us that we will be sent back [to the Maldives] next month. But that next month had never come,” said Moosa Didi, who is on the ‘Al Dhoha 1’ cargo ship, a Naftotrade Shipping vessel unable to transport cement to Libya.

He complained that while the company was providing food, some of it contained pork which the Muslim crew members were unable to eat.

Haveeru also spoke to Maldivians stranded on the vessel ‘Ocean Carrier’, currently in the Malaysian port of Labuan, who claimed that they were running out of food and water and had not been paid for two months.

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Alliance Francaise creates ‘Male Montmatre’ in Sultans Park

The Maldives Alliance Francaise held its Francophonie’s Day today, with painters and poets working in the shade of Sultans Park to create a ‘Male’ Montmartre’ – sans Moulin Rouge.

The day began with a elaborate French brunch on the terrace of the National Library, overlooking the park, with both members and non-members enjoying coffee, croissants and a spectacular array of artisan cheeses from across France.

In the cool of the afternoon, the Le Printemps des poètes (Spring of Poetry) saw the recitation for poetry in Dhivehi, French and English, accompanied by traditional music including the Maldivian flute, dolki and kottafoshi.

School children participated in an creative workshop led by local artists, while this evening at 9:00pm the Alliance Francaise will host a cafe-concert at Seahouse.

President of the Maldives’ Alliance Francaise, Mohamed Ismail ‘Sikka’ Maniku, said this was the second year the organisation had decided to hold a Francophonie Day.

The purpose, he explained, was not only to teach French and celebrate French culture, “but our culture as well.”

“[The Alliance Francaise] is something really good that we have in Male’, because our youth need something much more concrete. They should have a place to go in the evenings,” he said.

“It’s not only about French classes. Youth [in Male’] lack focus. When you open a class it’s full, but after three months the numbers drop – that says a lot. We are trying to see how we can change this culture and show how people can engage with a goal, and keep an end in mind.”

Sikka proposed the idea of a ‘language house’, teaching not only French but other languages such as Spanish and Italian.

“Of course we do our part [and teach French], bu the main thing would be to engage young people, perhaps with a coffee house, so when they come out of lessons there is a place for them to talk,” he suggested.

“It should be a proper institution where people can come and learn a language and a culture. I think a language house is really important right now – we are a country with a service-oriented industry, so when you are able to communicate in another language it makes a huge difference.

“I remember long ago when Kurumba was opened I happened to be at the reception. There was a lady, sweating profusely, who was trying to communicate with the guy at the desk. I suspect he didn’t really know English – this was 1972. But then I realised she was a French lady, and the moment I said ‘Bonjour Madam’, she relaxed. If we want to deal with these people, we must know their language, we must know their culture.”

Sikka’s own introduction to French culture began with a job in Foreign Affairs after he had completed his O’levels in Sri Lanka. With an interest in foreign relations sparked, he returned to complete his A’levels, and on a whim he walked into the French Embassy in Colombo and asked if he could study in France.

“I remember the guy in the embassy asked where the Maldives was,” Sikka recalls. “But he said OK, and a week later he called me to say the French Ambassador wanted to see me. The Ambassador was very interested – and asked me: ‘Why France?’ I said that I had come to know that France was the best place to do study international relations.”

Within a month Sikka had a scholarship: “It was much later that i realised it happened because they were interested in it, I was lucky, and because there was a scholarship not utilised by Sri Lanka at the time I went in for it. The thinking was – ‘since it was not being utilised, why not give it to me?’”

Sikka studied in France for three years and returned to continue working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Later I wasI sent to the Maldives High Commission in Colombo, so my language was kept fresh, as well as the interest. I felt I owed something to both countries because of the opportunities I was given.”

Sikka became consul in France to the Maldives but it was only three years ago that an Alliance Francaise was opened in Male’.

Sikka says he hopes Maldivians will learn to become more connected to their own culture.

“Many people are probably not enough connected, for so many reasons,” he says. “We don’t learn about our own culture. My generation knew a little bit more, and we preserve it. But then there was a period when this was lacking.

“[Cultural education] should start in the schools – students should come more often to places like the museum, should be told what our forefathers did, what their sacrifices were, how they lived. I’m from a generation that knew a big wall around Male’, when there were only a few places you could enter. And once when I returned from school holidays there was no more wall.”

Among the changes since then, the greatest has been the recent tranisition to democracy, he says.

“A lot of us suffered under the old system, by not being in the thought of the government at that period. It was not because people were necessarily against them, but because [the government] had a perception that anyone who did not tow their line was against them. That fear is now gone.”

For more information on the Alliance Francaise in Male’ and its activities, visit http://afmaldives.org/

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Police retain four suspects in custody as “Facebook blackmail” investigation continues

Police are monitoring four individuals suspected of involvement in the alleged blackmail of several political figures though graphic images obtained via social network site Facebook, as they press ahead with the case.

The Maldives Police Service today confirmed that out of the remaining seven suspects held for questioning over the investigation, three had now been released, while another three had been put under house arrest, leaving one individual in police custody.

The case first came to light in February, when police revealed that 14 individuals including a minor had been arrested on suspicion of obtaining hundreds of nude pictures and videos that were stored on computers and external hard drives.  It was alleged that these images had been obtained through fake Facebook profiles that used the identical image of a young woman.

Police said at the time that two profiles with the names of ‘Lyshiaa Limanom’ and ‘Angelic Sharrown’ respectively were used by the suspects to gather files of individuals pictured in some cases performing explicit acts in the presence of minors. Investigators stated that they would also be investigating people pictured in the files for committing crimes.

Speaking today to Minivan News, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam claimed that despite the release of three suspects, the investigation was “very much continuing” with additional suspects now wanted for questioning.

However, he added that due the “complicated” nature of the case, which relates to allegations of public indecency, police have said that they remain unable to reveal further details of advances that may have been made until the investigation was concluded.

Shiyam added that this could still potentially include actions being taken against any individuals depicted in the seized files if they are found to be in violation of state laws. Unconfirmed reports allege the possible involvement of civil servants and parliamentarians.

“We really can’t say anything yet [about the case],” he said. “However, once the investigation has been completed, we will be sending information to the Prosecutor General’s Office on who to charge with possible offences.”

No arrests have been made in the case as yet, though it was revealed last month that a senior civil servant working at Male’ Municipality has been suspended by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), reportedly in connection to an explicit video obtained by police during the investigation.

CSC Commissioner Fahmy Hassan confirmed to Minivan News at the time that the civil servant had been suspended pending an investigation into the offending video, which had been leaked to the internet and reported to the CSC.

The police investigation has not been without controversy though, with the editor of local newspaper Haveeru questioning the motivation of law enforcement officials in the country over the questioning of two of its journalists.  The questioning was said to concern the identity of sources used in a story said that reportedly identified persons within some of the images and videos.

Haveeru Editor Moosa Latheef told Minivan News that although police had acted politely and professionally in questioning two of its journalists, he believed there was the possibility that the actions taken against his staff could have been “politically motivated” to protect certain reputations.

Police officials responded at the time to the allegations by claiming that the journalists’ questioning was not a ‘political attack’ on media freedom, but a means to try and aid its investigations through interviewing the unnamed sources in the article.

Haveeru said that its journalists had not given the identities of the sources used in the article to police.

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Samsung introduces ‘Maldives’ air conditioner

Samsung Electronics unveiled a new air conditioner called ‘the Maldives’ this month specifically designed for South Asian Countries with advanced air cooling technology that can reduce energy usage by up to 60 percent.

A press statement from the global electronics leader explains that the new air conditioner features “Double Saving” technology and an enhanced purifying system.

“When viruses come into contact with the Maldives systems, the chemical reaction with Samsung’s Virus Doctor technology converts bacteria into harmless water vapor. Combined with the Full HD Filter, this technology can eliminate up to 80 percent of dust and bacteria,” said Mr. Chang Wan Hong, executive vice president of the Samsung Digital Appliances business. “With continued focus on sophisticated technology and design, Samsung’s Digital Air Solutions products enable consumers to lead healthier, more eco-friendly lifestyles.”

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