Teachers routinely bullied by pupils with no support from schools, say staff

Education in the Maldives is being held back by a lack of institutional support and too much student power, report teachers currently working within the system.

Anecdotal evidence from teachers working in the Male’ area suggests poor support from senior staff and insufficient pay, leading many teachers to consider leaving the profession.

Following last week’s annual Teachers Awards ceremony, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan told local media that allowances and privileges for teachers would be reviewed in order to improve educational standards.

“The basic action to take, in order to improve the level of education, is to improve the standard of teachers. And increase the assistance provided to teachers. In order to encourage teachers, I will revise and work towards improving the allowances given to them,” Waheed told Sun Online.

In response to this, one teacher told Minivan News: “It’s about time they got reviewed. Teachers are badly paid and badly treated. Many teachers I know are leaving or looking to leave the profession.”

Former Education Minister under the previous government Shifa Mohamed explained that efforts had been made in the past to raise the standard of teachers by introducing a licensing system for better qualified teachers which would have become mandatory over time.

“We tried to establish a system with licensing for better qualified teachers,” said Shifa, arguing that teachers were motivated not just by wages, but the opportunity to develop.

Teachers – some of whom have experience working abroad – reported particular problems with a results orientated system, producing pupils without the appropriate life skills.

“Students have far too much power. If they don’t like the marks they have been given in an exam, they bully teachers into changing the marks,” one teacher said. “Teachers are marking up all students so that they appease them and the parents.

“The students are spoon-fed and don’t learn any of the life skills they’ll need, for example basic revision skills, how to read an article and summarise it, or how to take the key points from it,” the teacher told Minivan News.

The teachers also described problems caused by teachers being forced to supplement their income with additional tuition, often teaching children from within their own school – prompting a conflict of interests.

“It is known that a lot of the teachers only teach half the syllabus in class, forcing students to take on extra tuition,” commented one teacher.

“However, this is an error on both the government/schools side and the teacher’s side. The teachers aren’t getting paid enough so they have to supplement their salary with tuition,” the teacher explained.

Shilfa said the tuition issue was a long-term problem which had concerned the ministry for some time.

“It is a norm because it is a system based on marks, and we were trying to change that – there is pressure from parents [on teachers] to give good marks,” she said.

While one teacher explained that schools still offered opportunities for further training to staff via the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme, at the time of press Minivan News was unable to obtain comment from the government on current policy.

Four different education officials, including senior appointments, failed to respond or referred Minivan News to other officials, who likewise failed to respond. One education official demanded Minivan News submit a request for comment in writing.

Wider impact

After last week’s award ceremony at Dharubaaruge, President Waheed said the implementation of a new curriculum as well as further training for teachers was needed to improve the education system.

Waheed also pointed to a gap in the system affecting school leavers.

“One of the biggest problems for youth today is that they have to stop studying when they reach Grade 10. They finish school at the age of 16,” said the President.

“My hope is that the education system is changed, such that every child gets to go to school until they are 18, and that they become productive and useful individuals,” he added.

This particular issue was highlighted by a recent report into gang culture in the country, produced by the Asia Foundation.

The report linked this so called ‘lost age group’ to unemployment and subsequent involvement in gang activities as a source of income.

State Minister of Education Imad Solih told the media last month that the country’s education system had failed, with detrimental repercussions for society as a whole.

He stated that, with the government’s annual investment of MVR 2.4 billion (US$156 million) on education, the outcome was unacceptable.

An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)  report released last December ranked the Maldives as number one in the Asia Pacific region on education spending as a percentage of GDP.

According to the report, Maldives spends the highest proportion of GDP on public education (8.1 percent) across the Asia/Pacific region, four times higher than countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar.

Despite the expenditure, Solih argued that the countrywide results of O’level and A’level examinations did not reflect the financial input to the education system, and that changes had to be brought to the sector including new plans and targets.

Solih also stated that the failure of the education system should not only remain a concern of the education sector alone, but political leaders, parliamentarians and the general public should also share the concerns.

“I urge everyone to set aside our political differences and to take a minute to think about the current education system,” he said.

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Court releases opposition MDP activist Naifa with conditions

The Criminal Court has released Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activist Mariyam Naifa, who was arrested in connection with the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali.

Naifa, who was presented to court along with two other suspects, was given a conditional release while the detention of the latter two was extended another 15 days.

Local media identified the pair as Ali ‘Smith’ Hashim and Hassan Humaam, however the authorities declined to officially confirm the identities.

Conditions imposed by the Criminal Court on Naifa’s release include a travel ban restricting her from leaving the capital Male’, an order not to talk about the questions posed to her during the police investigation, and a requirement that she cooperate with the ongoing police investigation.

All the detainees were brought to court with their faces covered to conceal their identity from the media.

When the detainees were brought to court, minor confrontations and verbal arguments took place between a group of MDP supporters gathered near the court building and the police cordoning the area, but the gathering was largely peaceful.

Speaking to Minivan News, a family member of Naifa, Aishath Jennifer, said that they were extremely surprised to hear about her arrest especially in relation with such a “heinous crime”.

“We did not at all know what was going on initially. A friend who was with her at the café where she was arrested called and told me that police had taken Naifa into custody. The whole family was very surprised to learn about the arrest, especially in connection with such a heinous crime,” Jennifer said.

Jennifer also claimed that she and Naifa had met the night she was arrested and said she did not have a clue about what happened with the murder, or why police had decided she was connected to it.

“We used to hang out together all the time. After the change of government on February 7, we regularly meet in Usfasgandu. Even the night she was taken into police custody, we met earlier. She did not even give a slight hint or impression about such a thing. Since we are so close, if she was up to something, we would have had at least had a clue or a hint. But we didn’t,” she said.

Speaking about the arrest, Jennifer claimed the police did not give Naifa the chance to read the court warrant before she was taken into the police jeep.

“She only got to know the reason for her arrest when they took her into the jeep,” she added.

Jennifer also said that Naifa was initially not allowed to contact her family and was barred from her right to an attorney.

She also said she doubted the grounds for her sister’s arrest and contended that police did not have any reason for taking her into custody, alleging her arrest was “politically motivated”.

“People know her because of her involvement in MDP rallies. Before that, she was not publicly as well known as she is today. During both court hearings she was presented, neither the police nor the judges were able to inform her of any evidence that police produced against her. They said that it was highly confidential,” Jennifer explained.

“How come they did not reveal the evidence or the details about the charges she was arrested? I think the court had to place conditions on her release because they did a really stupid thing – arrest her in the first place. She is now being barred from her right to freedom of expression because they know that without such a condition, she would definitely talk about it,” she continued.

“This arrest can’t have anything other than political motivation behind it. They know she is an MDP activist and vocal critic of the current government. They would not have noticed her if not for her political identity. This is definitely a politically-motivated arrest,” Jennifer concluded.

Naifa, who is an supporter of former President Mohamed Nasheed and a regular attendee at protests and rallies organised by the MDP, was arrested on October 2 while she was in a local café Dolphin Café’.

According to Naifa’s lawyers, the arrest was made following intelligence received by police in the murder case of MP Afrasheem.

She was later brought before court and her detention was extended to 15 days.

The MDP in a press statement condemned the arrest of Naifa claiming that the arrest was politically motivated and a deliberate attempt by the government of President Waheed Hassan to “instill fear among its supporters.”

Meanwhile, former President Mohamed Nasheed said the arrest gave the opportunity for the real culprits to escape from the law, as the arrest implied that the government was more focused on destroying its political rivals.

Police denied claims the arrests were made based on political affiliation and declined to officially reveal the identities of the detained, claiming that it could hinder the investigation.

On October 3, just a day after Naifa’s arrest, police conducted a search of the MDP’s protest camp at Usfasgandu.

Police did not confirm if the search of the site with metal detectors was related to the murder of Dr Afrasheem.

However MDP MP Eva Abdulla, who was at the site when police arrived, claimed an officer had informed her that the area was being searched in connection with the Afrasheem homicide case.

Several MDP supporters celebrated Naifa’s release on social media, including Twitter and Facebook.

In one of the tweets, former MP and Chair of the Drafting Committee of the Constitutional Assembly Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail wrote: “Welcome back Nai. We must now seek compensation for your ordeal. Even courts do not have the power to detain [people] arbitrarily.”

“This is a victory. They just tried their best to frame our gal and failed miserably,” another supporter tweeted.

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Police retrieve MVR 100,000 stolen by office assistant

Police on Wednesday arrested an employee of Global Link Pvt Ltd with over MVR 100,000 (US$6,485) stolen from the company.

According to police media, MVR99,895 was recovered during the arrest of Mohamed Muad, 36, of Seenu Meedhoo Seasunwaadhee.

The money was entrusted to Muad, an office assistant at Global Link, to be deposited at the Mauritius Commercial Bank. Police were alerted to the theft by the company.

The suspect’s detention has since been extended to 15 days by the Criminal Court.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Inspector Ahmed Shaheeth revealed that the stolen cash was found in a bag stashed inside a lift compartment at a house under construction in the Henveiru district of Male’.

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MDP MP Eva departs for IPU human rights committee meeting

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Galolhu North Eva Abdulla last week departed for Quebec, Canada to participate in a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) human rights committee.

According to the MDP, the committee is being convened to consider cases filed by the party with regard to acts of police brutality against the former ruling party’s MPs on February 7 and 8.

The IPU’s human rights committee will meet on October 21 and 26.

Three classified reports by the IPU concerning police brutality against MDP MPs have been shared with parliament and the executive since the transfer of presidential power on February 7, the party has revealed.

In April this year, MP Eva was unanimously elected as a member of the Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the IPU during the committee meeting held in conjunction with the 126th Assembly of IPU at Kampala, Uganda.

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Former President Nasheed returns to Male’ after participating in jury for Zyed Future Energy Prize

Former President Mohamed Nasheed returned to Male’ on Friday afternoon after a visit to the United Arab Emirates to participate in the jury panel to select winners of the annual Zyed Future Energy Prize, an international award to recognise innovation, leadership and impact in renewable energy and sustainability.

This year’s winners will be announced at a ceremony on January 15, 2013.

Upon arrival in Male’, the former President was greeted at the jetty by supporters and members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Former President Nasheed was granted permission to travel by the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court, which had earlier ordered his passport be held until conclusion of Nasheed’s trial over the detention of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

According to the Emirates News Agency, Nasheed along with other jury members Olaf Ragnar Grimsson, the President of Iceland, and Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, Minister of Energy for South Africa, toured Shams 1 – the 100 megawatt Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) facility in the Western region of Abu Dhabi.

President Nasheed was also named in the jury for the Zyed Future Energy Prize in 2011 along with Leonardo Dicaprio, Oscar-winning actor; Andre Agassi, Grand Slam tennis champion; Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister; and Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, South African Minister of Energy.

The annual Zayed Future Energy Prize is open to individuals, large companies, entrepreneurs, small- to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and NGOs in the field of renewable energy and sustainability. Award category and prizes are: SMEs/NGOs: $1.5 million (winner), $1m (first runner-up), and $500,000 (second runner-up); Lifetime Achievement — Individual: $500,000; large corporations: Recognition Award.

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MDP activist ‘Nazaki’ Zaki appointed as Deputy Leader of GIP

The Gaumee Ithihaadh Party (GIP) led by current President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik has appointed former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activist and current Ambassador to Malaysia Mohamed ‘Nazaki’ Zaki as the party’s Deputy Leader.

Secretary General of GIP Mohamed Mushrif told local media that ‘Nazaki’ Zaki was appointed with the full majority of 11 council members that were at the council meeting held last night.

The party decided to appoint a Deputy Leader before its National Congress because it was difficult for Dr Waheed to run the party while performing his duties as the President at the same time.

The position was previously filled by the former government’s Education Minister and Chancellor of the Maldives National University (MNU) Dr Musthafa Luthfy, who was appointed to the then-cabinet as a GIP member. He later shifted to MDP and remains a member of the party, after its acrimonious 2010 split from the MDP coalition.

Online newspaper ‘Sun’ quoted Zaki as saying that he had been a member of GIP since May this year after resigning from the MDP in April.

He told the paper that he had joined GIP because he found it easy to work with Dr Waheed and said it was possible that he might very soon resign from the position of ambassador and focus solely on running the party.

He also said that his reason for departing the MDP was because of the influence of “several people” within the party, and claimed that then-President of MDP Dr Ibrahim Didi was unable to run the party.

The President’s party had 2508 members by the end of September 2012 according to the Elections Commission. It has no representation in parliament or local councils.

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Auditor General accuses senior officials of negligence in embezzlement of MVR 24 million from DMC

The Auditor General’s Office has accused senior government officials of negligence in the alleged embezzlement of MVR 24 million (US$1.6 million) through the Disaster Management Center (DMC) in 2009 and 2010.

In a presentation to parliament’s Finance Committee on Wednesday, Director General Ibrahim Aimon reportedly revealed that the Auditor General’s Office suspected former State Minister Abdulla Shahid, who was in charge of the DMC at the time, along with DMC Director General Mohamed Shahid and Deputy Director General Moosa Ali Kaleyfan as well as former State Minister for Finance Ahmed Assad and Finance Controller Ahmed Mohamed, were culpable in the scam or guilty of gross negligence.

Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim told members of the Finance Committee that the negligence of the DMC and Finance Ministry in the embezzlement of funds was “very serious.”

Minivan News is seeking comment from the accused senior officials.

ABCs

On October 11, the Auditor General’s Office made public a special audit report (Dhivehi) of an investigation into misappropriation of MVR 24 million from the DMC, uncovered in the centre’s 2010 audit.

In the 2010 audit of the DMC, auditors discovered that payments were made for “hundreds of invoices from 2005”. As the DMC refused to comply with a request for all documentation relating to the transactions, the report noted that the files were eventually obtained from the Finance Ministry.

In 2005, the report explained, the DMC bought construction material for tsunami-related reconstruction from local businesses with “credit purchase order forms.”

The Finance Ministry paid the bills for credit purchases from the “tsunami recovery fund (TFR).”

A company named Allocate Business Company (ABC) was issued “a large number of purchase orders in 2005,” the report found, noting that the company was about a year-old and was not an importer or seller of construction material.

“Therefore invoices for all the purchase order forms released to ABC were submitted under the names of ‘Apollo Hardware Store’ and ‘Apollo Holdings Pvt Ltd,” the report stated, adding that the payments were made to Apollo in 2005 for the ABC purchase order forms.

The invoices submitted by Apollo Hardware and Apollo Holdings included references to the purchase order forms released to ABC, the report noted.

“Therefore it is believed that these two companies are strongly linked,” the report stated.

The scam

Meanwhile, in 2009 and 2010, ABC submitted over 700 new invoices to seek payments from the state with photocopies of the original purchase orders taken from the Apollo invoices.

The audit found that MVR 24,008,503.75 was paid out for 571 of the invoices.

The Finance Ministry prepared payment vouchers for the DMC and made the payments in four cheques between August 2009 and April 2010.

The fourth and final payment of MVR 13 million (US$843,060) was issued on April 27, 2010 for 193 fraudulent invoices.

While over 700 invoices were sent over by the DMC, the report noted that the Finance Ministry rejected 140 invoices worth over MVR 10 million (US$648,508) after the public accounting system showed that payments had already been made.

“Therefore, this showed that ABC attempted to obtain funds using invoices for which payments had been made [to the company],” the report noted.

“From one perspective, ABC was offered the opportunity to embezzle funds so openly because the company knew of the faulty arrangement between the Disaster Management Centre and and Ministry of Finance for issuing funds and took advantage of it. Or [it is because] the scam was carried out with the collaboration of senior officials of the Disaster Management Centre and Ministry of Finance and Treasury.”

Negligence or involvement of senior officials

The report added that the issuing of funds for forged invoices accepted by the public accounting system “raises serious questions regarding the integrity and capability of those entrusted with spending public funds.”

Moreover, the case demonstrated “extreme irresponsibility” on the part of the public officials, the report stated.

Among the reasons listed for suspecting either involvement or gross negligence of senior government officials, the report noted that as a rule public funds were released only for original documents, whereas the invoices in the DMC case contained photocopies of purchase order forms.

The Auditor General’s Office therefore believed that “this was done deliberately and with a plan rather than out of ignorance or because of mistakes.”

The report also noted that it was highly unlikely that either the state would have held payments owed to a private company without any reason or that the company would have waited four or five years to demand payment with no record of complaint or a court case.

The audit further discovered that officials from the DMC met with the state minister for finance regarding the payments to ABC, “however neither minutes nor any documentation of the discussion was maintained for any of these meetings.”

Moreover, the audit found that the Finance Ministry had rejected some invoices forwarded by the DMC that lacked purchase order forms. However, the audit investigation found that a Director General at the DMC instructed an employee to photocopy purchase order forms and attach the bill to the invoices, which were then sent again to the Finance Ministry.

In conclusion, the Auditor General recommended further investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Maldives Police Service (MPS) for prosecuting the directors of ABC Pvt Ltd as well as the culpable government officials.

According to local media reports, police have since arrested two individuals in connection with the ongoing investigation into the DMC scam. Police have however not revealed the identity of the suspects in custody.

At a press briefing on Thursday, parliament’s Finance Committee Chair MP Ahmed Nazim said that the committee has decided to summon Prosecutor General Ahmed Muiz and members of the ACC along with Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad and Finance Controller Ahmed Mohamed next week to discuss measures to prevent corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

Finance Controller Ahmed Mohamed is among the officials named by the Auditor General’s Office at the Finance Committee meeting last week.

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OPEC loan for Hithadhoo hospital finalised

A delegation from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has concluded a visit to the Maldives after signing a US$8.4 million (MVR 129million) loan agreement to finance the Hithadhoo Regional Hospital Project in Addu Atoll.

OFID Director-General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish met with President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan to discuss the fund’s current operations in the Maldives as well as further avenues for cooperation.

Suleiman said the new hospital would deliver a wide range of specialized and emergency medical services, benefiting around 76,000 people.

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health Geela Ali said that the work on the 100-bed facility would upgrade the level of healthcare in the atoll to tertiary level.

Currently, this advanced level of healthcare is only provided in Male’s two hospitals – the privately operated ADK hospital and the state-run Indira Ghandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Other than this, Maldivians can receive secondary of care in the country’s six regional hospitals. This includes Raa Atoll regional hospital which the ministry intends to begin renovating.

“This will be a huge project. We are currently seeking government funding for this,” explained Geela.

OFID is a finance institution established by the group of petroleum exporting states to channel aid to less-developed nations.

Previous loan support from the fund was given to upgrade Male’ international airport in 1999, and again in 2005 to extend Wataniya’s telecoms coverage.

A press release from the fund described the fund’s 35 year relationship with the Maldives during which time is has co-financed projects to strengthen the country’s agriculture, education, transportation a sanitation sectors.

“Under its Trade Finance Facility, OFID has participated under the International Islamic Finance Corporation’s syndication of US$25 million to assist the State Trading Organization, Maldives, in importing refined petroleum products. In addition, grant funding has provided emergency aid for tsunami victims and supported healthcare programs,” read the statement.

Chinese visit

As the OFID visit concluded, a high level Chinese delegation arrived as part of a three nation tour which will also take in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The delegation is headed by Li Changchun who is China’s fifth highest-ranking leader and has been on the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee since 2002.

Chinese state media reported Li as lauding the exemplary nature of the Sino-Maldives relationship as a model for ties between larger and smaller nations.

“The development of relations between China and the Maldivians serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples as well as maintaining the regional peace, stability and prosperity,” Xinhua reported Li as saying upon his arrival at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

Li has since met with President Waheed who thanked him for China’s continuing assistance with the Maldives’ development, whilst welcoming Chinese investors to explore opportunities in the country.

Waheed expressed similar sentiment when paying his first official state visit to China last month during which he finalised a deal for US$500 million in aid, with promises for further assistance in the future.

The President’s Office website has confirmed that the Ministry of Housing has exchanged letters agreeing to a feasibility study for developing a road in the Laamu Atoll Gan to Fonadhoo stretch of islands.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Chinese Ambassador Yu Hongyao and the Ministry of Environment and Energy concerning the provision of goods for addressing climate change.

Chinese relationships with the Maldives was established 40 years ago but has expanded rapidly over the past decade.

China leapfrogged the United Kingdom in 2010 to become the number one source of arrivals for the country’s travel industry.

China opened an embassy in Male’ in time for the opening of the SAARC summit last November, reciprocating the opening of a Maldivian mission in Beijing in 2007.

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