Nooraanee School in Hithadhoo will become the first in the Maldives to teach classes exclusively in Arabic from next week.
The Ministry of Education has confirmed that the school in Seenu Atoll will hold all grade one classes in Arabic, other than English, Dhivehi, and Islam.
Minister of State for Education Abdulla Nazeer told local media that all the teachers had been trained, and facilities prepared to begin teaching 32 grade one students in Arabic from Sunday (January 11).
The ministry had previously announced that two schools had been designated to conduct classes in the Arabic medium, with Nazeer telling Sun Online that a second school in Haa Dhaalu Kulhudufushi was to follow in 2017.
The government has pledged to mainstream Arabic education, with Arabic lessons having been introduced in 20 schools in the past year, as well as the introduction of Quran as a subject for grades 1 – 7 in all schools during the 2014 academic year.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has also pledged to broaden Islamic knowledge in the national curriculum
Following the introduction of the first classes last February, Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel said that Arabic language will bring a “special happiness” to the people of Maldives, will strengthen the Islamic faith, and will introduce good behaviour.
With the exception of Malé’s Arabiya School – which uses both languages in classes, the medium of instruction of all schools in the Maldives is currently English. Only Dhivehi language and Islamic studies are currently taught in Dhivehi.
Arabiya school also discussed switching to Arabic only classes from grade four onwards with the government last year. Officials from Arabiya were said to have been concerned that teaching in both English and Arabic was affecting grades.
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99% of schools in Maldives (official language Dhivehi) teaches in English medium. But that never made as a headline new!!
Now one schools goes Arabic, thats big time news.. whats wrong with you people.
English may be the language of internet but thats does not mean the work should run according to English.. or should it?
This is natural progression. After all Maldivians like Pakistanis have Arab ancestry and your forefathers were also riding camels in the deserts of Arabia.
Just don't tell the Arabs.
Why are we going backwards?? Why do we want to wipe camel dung?
This is yet another step towards the destruction of the Maldives!
Pick Chinese as the second language! He first one should be English!
When is a Dhivehi medium school coming, one day we will lament the loss of the language.
While Arabic is a fine language to learn and study, it is totally irresponsible to exclusively use Arabic as a medium of education in the 21st century.
This closes so many economic and social opportunities for these kids for the rest of their life. In fact there is no benefit whatsoever from this. Don't pull that one about being better Muslims. Those whose first language is Arabic also happen to be the biggest sinners and Munafiq. Just go and look inside Western Casinos and nightclubs!
It is not a language that turns one pious, it is ones heart and brain. Jameel is too thick to understand that.
What a waste! Arabic language cannot benefit anyone. Arab world depends almost completely on oil for their wealth. They only industry they have is oil and it is managed by expatriates. In fact everything is managed by expatriates. These students when they leave school will have tough time getting a decent job.
Mashallah. This will help make them better Muslims.
Nothing against someone founding a school using Arabic as medium, it's up to the parents to recognise the need of their kids.
English is the most widely understood language and the main economical and technological language, so in my opinion everyone with career ambitions needs to be able to read, understand and speak decent English. Depriving your kids from this would be a bad choice for their future.
Next to English there are geographical reasons to learn Hindi. Chinese would be a good pick too, but it's a very hard language to learn.
Trulyasia, I dont find it going backwards. After all who said studying in English is goign forward. There are plenty of Germans, French, Chinese, Japanese who dont know how to speak in English. Whether the students learn in Arabic, I am 100% sure they will learn English in whatever form if they are in Maldives. Why do so many maldivians understad Hindi? We never studied it. somehow through TV we got familiar with it. Also who said the students will never study English as a subject? Most likely they will still have the English subject. If that is so, what is the problem. In many countries they have many subjects in their own language also. I am Maldivian, but my wife is a foreigner who studied all subjects in her language except English as a subject for few years in school. And she is fine by all means.
I have yet to see a man or woman become a "better" Muslim just because they learnt Arabic!
This is wasting the life of a future generation! When those kids realise it, it will be too late for them.
Facts.
1. Most Maldivains speak good English but still unemployment is high. All you have to do is look at Mininvan news to see the discontent of youth.
2. The mother of Eglish speaking world (is it England or Great Britain) is on the decline.. And we are supposed to master Willian Shakespeare. yer right mate.
3. Lets compare the unemployed rate of Arabic speakers and English speakers in Maldives, if you want to scientific about it.
4. English is only famous because of internet. Most intellectuals in the world do not speak English. The French, the Chinese, the Spanaish, Germans, Japanese, Russians are doing perfefectly well without singing 'God Save the Queen'
@MissIndia.
You hate so much Maldives . Why don't you go back to your home country and start to teach and educate your people how to use toilets .
Recently your Gov, has built some toilets facilities on then road side for 60% of your population who does not have excess to them and still they are afraid to use those toilets.
Pls stop meddling with Maldives and we don't need to people like you in this country and specially to hide behind the diplomatic arena.
@Kashim what the ****. Do you really think learning Arabic will make them "good muslims???" When I check the news all those freaky people who had blown up other people are those arabic speaking "good muslims".
Get a life and start thinking from your brain instead of....
i am waiting for Minivan News to publish an article on 600 plus schools who teaches in english medium in Maldives.
Fact:
You cannot compare the unemployment rate of Arabic speakers and English speakers in the Maldives! That's comparing apples and oranges. Science, my foot.
There are far fewer Arabic speakers here for a start.
By all means learn and study Arabic, but NEVER claim that it will make anyone a good Muslim. Even native Arabs do not understand the majority of the Quran or the rest of the religion, and that is a FACT.
French, Russians, Japanese, Germans may get along fine without knowing much English because those countries have advanced economies that produce goods or services the rest of the world needs.
What does the Maldives have? Tourism that is it! What career prospects are there for Arabic speakers in that industry... Hmmm...
@the person calling others idiot commenters
English is important, if you deny that you can also deny sun movement happens due to the earth rotating. Intellectuals around the world do know English and all of this has got little to do with the influence of the UK on world scale. The geographical spread of English language is not decreasing. I hope the whole world will accept English as common language, how nice would it be you can go anywhere and communicate with everyone?
It doesn't mean the world has to accept everything coming from the UK. Take the imperial system for example, which is an impractical old system. From their end they should accept the metric system is the most practical and is already used as common system in science around the world.
But on topic: there is no need to use English as main language in education, for as long as students still learn proper English skills. I do wonder why no Dhivehi resources are being developed and used as main educational language?
@ Hero
As a person of arab ancestry, cough cough (sound effect), do you have an Arab name? Al Hero Bin Laden perhaps?
You keep harping on about the poverty in India disregarding the fact that it is cheap imports from India that sustains you.....and that includes drinking water. Just consider what will happen to you if we pull the plug? Show some gratitude.
Not everyone is poor and uneducated in India and without access to modern toilets. You may have the toilets in Maldives but do you have water to flush them? I happily belong to India's privileged class, as my language skills clearly show. People of my class have no need to go out and work either.
Sent from my iPad from the back seat of my chauffeur driven limo.
Ekaloas buddy on Fri, 9th Jan 2015 1:33 AM
I suggest you start an education at the first opportunity. There is no such language as Chinese.
China's main language is Mandarin and even then not all district speak it, so why would it be a good pick when even in China the business language is English.
@Ekaloas buddy
The UK may have invented the imperial system, but its most widely used in the United States nowadays. The rest of the world, including the UK has gone metric (apart from very few cases such as the usage of miles).
I wonder where does someone go to breed islamic fundamentalists.
@MissInida.
Be it , if you can, you can pull the plug at any time u want.
Existence of Maldives and Maldivian will not depend on India .
We are not buying the cheap stuff and you are earning profit out of the trade ? So what.
Anyway I remind you that you and your corrupt GMR will not be allowed to take over our airport and we don't need those filthy corrupt money.
This factually wrong. It is not the first arabic medium school. I would say it is not even the 3rd or 4th. even now mauhad and arabiyya area arabic medium schools.
This will please the conservatives and keep them shut for a while. Good job
miss india
that previlage class thing is a bit off.dont give give a fiddlers fart about Hero,he was delayed in the birth canal,because indian doctor was arrived late due to his pooja thingiee.keep your comment coming
@hero@missindia
Stop being a hero first " hero" yes if we pull the plug you will be down the loo without water, just got a message from the illuminati that the next job market is Saudi Arabia since they may require 400,000 mullahs for the mosques they made, the requirement would be well oiled beards. GMR is no more interested in a small fart called Maldives.
And don't worry hero we are not going to pull the plug, lest maldives sinks. We are sane people and the big brother around. Stop whining or you may be spanked badly on your but. After all this i stil luv Maldives.
Misleading headline, since there is a Hithadhoo School in Hithadhoo.
Nooraanee School has to be one of the first English Medium schools in the country and sad to see what it has become since Education Ministry took over