Day: February 9, 2014

Teachers Association threatens strike over pay discrepancies and education sector reform

The Teachers Association of Maldives (TAM) has announced a nationwide teachers’ strike to protest against pay discrepancies and the state’s failure to improve the education sector.

President of TAM Athif Abdul Hakeem said the strike can go ahead any time, with all preemptive steps having been taken, but noted that a priority would still be given to resolve issues through dialogue.

Athif said that meetings with the education ministry had resulted only in the promise of more meetings

“So in late January (2014) we requested to arrange a meeting but there was no response. So sent another letter this month. now we are waiting to discuss our issues. our next step will depend on how that goes,” Athif said.

Pay discrepancies

TAM president said  the association’s main concern is pay discrepancies:

“We are not exactly asking for a raise here, the government can never compensate teachers for their service, that is impossible. We are only asking to be treated fairly. There already is a huge gap between teachers’ pay and the pay for less qualified persons doing less work in other institutions. And now they have increased pay for some,” he said.

Comparing teachers’ pay with that of other institutions, Athif noted that an office assistant who hasn’t completed high school working at an independent institution will earn an amount equal or more than a qualified teacher with a degree.

“Such a teacher will earn around nine thousand rufiya in that assistant director level job. An assistant director at an independent institution will earn more than sixteen thousand. In health sector a nurse with a diploma will earn even more,” he continued.

‘Edhuru Vehi’ Flats

According to TAM, the meeting with the minister in December was cut short due to “lack of time” with some of the issues not raised during the meeting later shared in a letter.

One of the issues detailed in the letter was concern over the ‘Edhuru Vehi’ teachers’ flats in Villimalé . TAM requested the eviction of 27 flats already occupied by unqualified persons and the assurance that all flats were given only to “technical staff” in the education sector.

The letter stated that three of these apartments could be reserved for school heads and senior teachers traveling to the capital.
TAM said that if the issue was not resolved, the organisation would file a case with the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Education sector reform

Other major issues raised by TAM concerned  improving the education sector and the quality of services provided. According to the association, qualified young graduates are turning away from the sector due to poor pay and working conditions.

“Teachers should focus on each and every student in a classroom, but there are 35 students to focus on within 35 minutes. To compensate for this, parents have to pay thousands for private tuition. This is not free public education,” said the TAM president.

The association has requested that the ministry of education involve teachers in discussions regarding the sector. Last week, the association released a report titled ‘Education sector in a deep pit’ – highlighting the state’s “total disregard” towards the sector.

The report stated that 60% of schools in the Maldives are run without a principal, and contrasted reduced spending on education with significant increases in areas such as the military, political posts, and independent institutions.

Teachers’ complaints

An experienced teacher from Thaa Atoll School told Minivan News today that, even though the pay is no match for the work teachers do, they don’t always complain about it.

“They are very dedicated and they work really hard to improve the results. Teachers are never free from their work. They bring books to mark at home, they take extra classes, they guide students in extracurricular activities, they are on-call 24 hours assisting students, even during weekends.”

According to the teacher, the total pay (with salary and allowances) for the most qualified teacher at the school – with a degree in social sciences and a professional degree in teaching – is approximately MVR10,500.

“For most teachers it would be around MVR9000 or less. The person in charge of cleaning up the health center takes home around MVR16000” She said.

A secondary school teacher from Laamu Mundoo complained that overtime payment for teachers has been limited to just 5 percent of their basic salary, which is an average of MVR280 per month.

“We are told that even if we work more overtime hours we will not get paid for that. But how can we be teachers and not work overtime? We need to prepare lesson plans and teaching aids, we have to assist students in extracurricular activities and mark their papers and books, we have take extra classes for students who need that. So basically we are doing volunteer work here” She said.

A teacher from Thaa Atoll Madifushi said that salaries for teacher are often delayed and that the pay for January had still not been disbursed.

“And we don’t have access to teachers text books, chemicals or other equipment in most islands here,” she added.

Other teachers noted issues of retaining senior management staff who are not receptive to changes or the use of technology and modern teaching methods. They also noted the ministry’s failure to monitor schools in islands on a regular basis.

Only as a last resort

Athif reiterated that teachers will go on strike only as a last resort. TAM is hoping for parents’ support, and will be meeting parents through Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs).

“We are currently discussing the matter within our organisation’s committees, we hope parents will stand with us in this. This is about their children’s rights, improving the education sector is a national issue. The less we spend on this sector, the more we will have to spend on prisons. But if parents don’t act, and if the government refuse to act, we will go on strike. But only as a last resort,” Athif said.

According to TAM the organisation has 1500 permanent member and an estimated 4000 Maldivian teachers across the country who will participate. Recent Civil Service Commission data shows there to be 5,676 teachers in the Maldives – 4,855 of them are locals.

“Foreign teachers work here on contract basis, so they are not involved in this officially. Even for local teachers, we are asking for their opinion. We will conduct a survey and see how many of them are with us and if they want to go on strike. It will be their decision. Even then, we will give a chance for the government to find temporary teachers to fill in during that period.” Athif said.

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Cabinet advises president to establish regulations for death penalty

The cabinet has today advised President Abdulla Yameen that there is no legal obstruction to implementing death sentences, asking him to establish regulations determining the appropriate procedure.

The cabinet noted murder to be a serious crime on a national level, calling upon the president to pursue implementation of the death sentence using lethal injection.

Meanwhile, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Mahloof has today announced his decision not to seek a public referendum on capital punishment, giving his apologies to the public.

The decision followed the Fiqh Academy’s statement announcing that a public referendum on the death sentence was unlawful as the punishment was determined in Islamic Sharia.

Mahloof told the press today that he started the work with good intentions, but as religious scholars had said the referendum was unlawful, he no longer wanted to go ahead with it.

Mahloof held a press conference today at the PPM’s offices, telling media that he had never opposed the penalty, but rather had wanted – via the public referendum – to show how much the people were in need of it.

Mahloof said that the cabinet has the authority to enact the death sentence, and called upon it to realise that the implementation of capital punishment has to be started as soon as possible.

On February 4, Mahloof proposed conducting the referendum, suggesting that a poll could be held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 22.

On the same day Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed wrote on his twitter page that a public vote was not allowed on something already determined under Islamic Sharia.

Mahloof’s actions followed Home Minister Umar Naseer’s order to the Maldives Correctional Service last month to begin preparations for implementation of death sentences by lethal injection.

Amnesty International subsequenty called on the government to halt any plans to end the current moratorium on the death penalty, describing such a move as “a retrograde step and a serious setback to human rights in the country.”

President Yameen – on a state visit to Sri Lanka at the time of Naseer’s announcement – meanwhile told the press that the home minister’s order was not discussed in cabinet, and promised “broad discussions” on the issue.

In December 2012, the then-Attorney General Azima Shukoor has drafted a bill outlining how the death sentence should be executed in the Maldives, with lethal injection being identified as the state’s preferred method of capital punishment.

The last person to be judicially executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was executed by firing squad in 1953 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

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Broadcasting Corporation chair must resign to compete in party primary: MJA

The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) has called on Chairman of the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Ibrahim Umar Manik to resign after he contested in the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) ongoing primaries yesterday.

MJA President Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir said Manik’s actions do not conform to “best practices”.

Speaking to local media, Hiriga said journalists must resign from their posts to stand for political positions.

Manik had signed on to the PPM in January, but would only resign from his position if he won the party primary. Preliminary results show Manik lost the ticket to Ibrahim Falah.

MBC’s rules of procedure do not prohibit any member from joining a political party, Manik argued previously.

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Malé City Council urges local hotel owners to beware of bikinis

Malé City Council has urged hoteliers and guest house owners in the capital to inform tourists of the importance of dressing modestly in the country’s inhabited islands.

Responding to a letter of complaint from the Islamic Ministry, city Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali Manik has made a public announcement calling upon patrons to be more aware of the issue.

“Please look carefully at these kind of things that happen in Malé’s streets, and Hulhumalé’s streets,” said Manik.

“People have to be careful on this, because this is an islamic country. In inhabited islands, people should not walk in bikinis.”

“The ministry has to take that kind of action. If it prolongs it may be something beyond control.”

When asked about the letter today, State Minister for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Ali denied any such message had been sent.

While the resorts islands have thrived on so-called ‘bikini and booze’ tourism for decades, Islamic Shariah is practiced among the local populace of the 100 percent Sunni Islamic country.

Despite the country’s billion dollar tourism industry being founded on high-end luxury resorts – located on individual ‘uninhabited’ islands – mid-market tourism has risen rapidly over the past five years.

The number of guest houses has grown rapidly after the rise to power of the Maldivian Democratic Party in 2008, tripling in number in the past five years – although the most recent government figures show guest houses to comprise just over 4 percent of the industry’s registered bed capacity.

While promoted as by the MDP as a way for communities and smaller businesses to tap into the country’s largest source of income, the rise in tourists staying on inhabited islands has caused concern amongst some Islamic groups who suggest tourists and locals ought to be kept apart.

“If the hippy-type of travellers come, along will come drugs and narcotics which even now our society is suffering from. Things like nudity are not acceptable in a place where people are living. The people complain that they are praying in the mosque and just outside there are tourists in bikinis,” Vice President Mauroof Hussain of the Adhaalath Party recently told the AFP.

One Malé guesthouse owner –  who wished to remain anonymous – stated that moderation should be shown by tourists when walking the streets of the capital.

“Bikinis in public I think it’s unethical considering our traditions and culture.”

The owner,went on to say that he did not feel the issue to be a serious one, however, noting that most tourists were “very disciplined”.

Mayor Manik also expressed his belief that this was not a growing problem, saying that he had received no complaints from members of the public.

The current government – having been elected on a protection of Islam platform – is planning to experiment with ‘guest islands’, which aim to utilise uninhabited islands while still giving smaller entrepreneurs the opportunity to enter into the industry.

Speaking with Minivan News last month, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb said that while the current government was not against the guest house concept, he felt that publicising this small area of the industry could hurt the brand’s overall image.

“The thing is, from a marketing perspective, we have positioned the Maldives as a high-end destination. A-category guests will continue coming for as long as we market the country as an A-category destination,” he said.

Adeeb also noted that local concerns played a role in his reluctance to promote the guest house sector.

“Even locally, culturally, people get disheartened when we talk about guesthouses. So although I don’t much talk about it, guesthouse owners are aware that they have my full cooperation.”

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Adhaalath announces seven candidates for parliament

The Adhaalath Party (AP) announced seven candidates today for constituencies contested by the ruling ‘Progressive Coalition,’ bringing the number of the religious conservative party’s parliamentary candidates to 13 in total.

The candidates announced today were Ali Zahir for the Inguraidhoo constituency, Ibrahim Ahmed for the Madduvari constituency, incumbent MP Ibrahim Muttalib for the Fares-Maathoda constituency, Abdulla Ibrahim for the Kendhikolhudhoo constituency, Hassan Rasheed for the Kudahuvadhoo constituency, and Abdulla Haleem for the Isdhoo constituency.

The party also named the Fiqh Academy Vice President Dr Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef for the Hulhuhenveiru constituency. Dr Iyaz last week sparked controversy as he endorsed the practice of female genital mutilation in an online forum.

AP Spokesperson Ali Zahir said at a press briefing today that the party decided to field candidates for the seven seats as no progress had been made in “unofficial” talks with the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) on the possibility of ceding five constituencies for AP candidates.

While the AP has not given up hope of reaching a compromise with the ruling party, Zahir said the party gave tickets to seven more candidates because the deadline for submitting candidacy papers was two days away.

“When they began primaries yesterday, we felt they no longer intend to go forward with us,” he said, adding however that the PPM had “signalled” an interest in further negotiations.

Zahir noted that the PPM conducted primaries yesterday for all five of the constituency requested by the AP.

While the AP “hopes this number [of candidates] will not become higher [than 13],” Zahir said it was possible that the party’s ticket could be awarded to more candidates in the coming days.

The three parties in the governing ‘Progressive Coalition’ reached an agreement last week to allocate the 85 parliamentary constituencies among the coalition partners, with 49 seats assigned for the PPM, 28 seats for the Jumhooree Party (JP), and eight seats for the Maldives Development Alliance.

Following its exclusion from the coalition’s parliamentary election plans, the AP began discussions separately with the three parties on the possibility of allocating constituencies to its candidates.

However, negotiations with the JP ended unsuccessfully after it refused to cede the Vaikaradhoo and Makunudhoo constituencies as requested by the AP.

Last week, the AP announced that it would be fielding candidates in six constituencies contested by the JP.

In addition to the five candidates announced on Wednesday – Anara Naeem for the Makunudhoo constituency in Haa Dhaal atoll, Aishath Haleela for the Vaikaradhoo constituency, Ahmed Zahir for the Komandoo constituency, Asadhulla Shafie for the Kaashidhoo constituency, and Hisham Ahmed for the Meedhoo constituency in Addu City – the AP later announced that State Minister for Home Affairs Abdulla Mohamed was awarded the party’s ticket for the Nolhivaram constituency.

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MP Mohamed Hussein joins JP

Kanditheem MP Mohamed Hussein has signed on to the Jumhooree Party on Saturday.

JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim accepted Hussein’s form and said: “I do not doubt that the Jumhooree Party and the coalition will receive majority of the support from the Kanditheem constituency and the whole of Maldives.”

Hussein has already been awarded the JP ticket to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for March.

He had left the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party in April 2013, local media reports.

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February 9 detainees in Addu “forced to walk on smoldering coals”, says former PIC chair

Detainees arrested in Addu City after the controversial transfer of power on February 7, 2012, reported being “forced to walk on smoldering coals,” former Police Integrity Commission (PIC) chair Shahindha Ismail has said.

Police stations and courthouses were set ablaze in Addu after a brutal police crackdown on opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protesters in Malé.

Shahindha said that a four member PIC team visited the southernmost atoll from Februay 10- 13 on the request of then Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz, interviewing police officers and over 75 detainees.

“Almost everyone who was arrested said they were taken to the Gan Police station. Police officers took them through the burnt down buildings and accused them of arson. They said were pushed onto the coals and forced to walk over smoldering coals. We saw burns on various parts of their bodies. They also said they were tortured and pepper-sprayed. Some of the detainees said the police had threatened to burn them and their houses,” Shahindha told Minivan News.

Shahindha has called on the PIC to expedite investigations and expressed concern over “intentional negligence” on the part of both the PIC and People’s Majlis.

Meanwhile, police officers in Addu City said they had not received any instructions or help from their superiors, and had to sleep on the street after protesters burnt down their accommodation block along with most of their personal belongings.

“The police officers we spoke to were very traumatised and angry. They had no clothes, they were sleeping on the street. They did not even have toothbrushes, and were obviously not fit to do any policing,” she said.

In instances where a complaint is not filed at the commission, a majority of the PIC has to agree to launch an investigation. Shahindha said she had completed a report on the Addu City findings and asked the commission to investigate. But the PIC had not reached a decision on the issue when she had left the commission in October 2012.

New PIC chair Abdulla Waheed was not responding at the time of press.

“I have informed the People’s Majlis independent commission oversight committee on multiple occasions of the existence of the report. An Addu MP is on the committee. While the PIC must investigate such serious allegations, the Majlis has a responsibility to ensure the PIC does its job,” Shahindha said.

Torture

Arson in Addu City destroyed the police stations in the Hithadhoo and Gan districts, and the police accommodation block and training center in the Hithadhoo district.

On February 9, police officers arrested over 85 people from their houses, cafes and from boats on the sea. Detainees said police officers had relied on information provided by certain members of the public and had been quite arbitrary in who they arrested.

According to Shahindha, some detainees told the PIC team the police had handcuffed them and thrown them into a military truck. Afterwards, the police sat on them and beat them with batons.

With police facilities destroyed in the fire, detainees were not given access to sanitary facilities and were forced to sleep on the ground. They reported not being given the right to appoint a lawyer and said they were not brought in front of a judge to extend detention.

“In one instance, there was one man who had a medical condition and he had asked to see a doctor. He said that four police officers took him and two other men in the police van. But instead of taking them to see the doctor, the police officers drove around and parked the van in the sun,” she said.

“The detainees said their hands were cuffed to the back and that it was very hot inside the van. They said they became very thirsty in the heat. After an hour, they were taken to the burnt remains of the police station and the police officers threw ash over them. We saw remains of ash in the pocket of one of the detainees.”

An Amnesty International report in February 2012 alleged the Maldivian National Defense Forces (MNDF) attacked a group of peaceful female protesters in Addu during the unrest.

“We were left for dead”

The torching of the police buildings destroyed many police officers personal belongings including motorcycles, phone, laptops and clothes. What was not burnt was looted, officers told the PIC.

When protesters in Addu City confronted the police, they had no tear gas to control the crowd and did not have sufficient armor or shields.  They could not reach their superiors and did not receive any instructions or help, Shahindha said.

“One officer told me ‘we were left for dead there’ ”, she said.

“The PIC conducted an initial assessment on state funds. There is a report on all of these findings. The PIC must investigate and the People’s Majlis must oversee the PIC.”

“Police officers who were responsible for the torture must be investigated and prosecuted, and their superiors must be investigated for negligence and failure to provide protection to the police,” she said.

In August 2012, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) recommended that the police, PIC, and MNDF should investigate the failure to contain unrest in Addu and take legal action against security service personnel who were deemed negligent or responsible for the inaction.

The police and PIC should also “immediately investigate” allegations of torture in custody and inhumane treatment of detainees from Addu City and take action against the responsible police officers, the HRCM recommended.

In addition, the commission stated that legal action should be taken against police officers who were negligent in providing medical treatment to detainees as well as against officers who “violated the dignity of private households and infringed upon the rights of residents” during the arrest of suspects from their homes.

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Six parties express interest in building airport on Felivaru

Six companies have expressed interest in building an airport on Lhaviyani Atoll Felivaru, the Transport Ministry has said.

Regional Airports Director Sami Ageel said the six parties include three domestic companies and three companies from Kuwait, Sri Lanka, and the UK.

Transport Minister Ameen Ibrahim has previously said the government would allow the winning company to establish a resort on Lhaviyani Atoll Madivaru. The government wants a 1,800 meter runway at Felivaru, he said.

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