Tag: maldives

Teachers’ Day tradition provokes financial dispute

Wednesday, October 4 will be celebrated as Teachers’ Day, however reports state that parents are objecting to some schools’ request for a Rf100 (US$6.50) donation towards the festivities.

Deputy Minister of Education Ibrahim Rasheed said that he had not received any complaints regarding the celebrations. Rasheed said Teachers’ Day celebrations were voluntary, and that it was up to the parents to contribute.

He expressly noted that donations were not required by the ministry.

“It’s up to the parents. If the parents organise an activity it’s up to them to decide how they will do it,” said Rasheed.

According to local media, all schools have asked for donations, but the request became an issue when some schools set a fixed amount. One parent allegedly said her child was asked to bring “good” gifts, and that she felt forced to donate to the celebrations because the school was keeping a record of contributors.

Rasheed said it was tradition for students to bring teachers cards and flowers in appreciation, and supposed that the request for donations had been organised by the school board or parent teacher associations (PTAs). He confirmed that no part of the school budget is set aside for Teachers’ Day.

PTAs play a significant role in school decisions. For many parents, education is important; one source indicated that parents have requested improvements beyond the state budget’s scope, and that they may be asked to supply the necessary financing to realise their demands.

The Principal of Ameeniya School, Athiya Naseer, had not heard of complaints at other schools but said state budgets are insufficient. “We can hold extra curricular activities, but depending on the type of activity we may have to fundraise,” she said. “Everyone shares in the fundraising though, parents and students and teachers.”

Teachers are important figures in the community “who are doing their jobs very well,” said Rasheed. However, some consider salaries proportionately low.

“The salaries are very low compared to the cost of living,” said Naseer. “Many teachers tutor on the side.” Naseer could not say if teachers felt pressed to tutor to make ends meet.

Rasheed did not wish to comment on matter.

“The whole world is undergoing a serious economic downturn at the moment,” said Deputy Director General of the Center for Continuing Education (CCE), Adam Sharaaf Umar. “It will certainly affect the education system and other sectors as well. But teachers are optimistic, and always working hard at their jobs.”

Tomorrow’s festivities will start in the morning with students and parents welcoming teachers to schools. The Teaching Excellence Award 2011 will be announced tomorrow evening at Dharubaaruge, an event which President Mohamed Nasheed is expected to attend.

On October 8, CCE will host a teacher conference “to share and contribute practices and exchange views on how to apply new ideas in the classroom,” said Umar.

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Maldives remains “partly free” environment for media: Freedom House

Media freedom has remained steady in the Maldives following significant gains in 2009, according to a report by Freedom House.

The country was found to be a “partly free” environment for media, with the constitution protecting freedom of expression “but also restricting freedom of speech ‘contrary to the tenets of Islam’.”

The report was published prior to the release of new regulations enforcing the Religious Unity Act, which bans media ‘from producing or publicising programs, talking about or disseminating audio ‘that humiliates Allah or his prophets or the holy Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet (Mohamed) or the Islamic faith’,” imposing a 2-5 year prison sentence.

Freedom House noted that the overall legal framework protecting free expression “remained weak, with many proposed media reform bills still awaiting passage”, however it praised parliament for passing an amendment to the penal code in 2009 decriminalising defamation.

The organisation noted that legislation to transform the state broadcaster, the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC), into the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation, a public broadcaster, “was passed in April 2010, but the government delayed implementing the handover.”

Increased media diversity had improved coverage of major political events, including by the state broadcaster, “though the [MNBC] still suffers from pro-government bias.”

Investigative journalism, Freedom House noted, “remains hampered by the lack of an access to information law and a culture of secrecy at government departments.”

While the formation of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) was “cautiously welcomed”, given the preference of advocacy groups for self-regulation, the elections process was criticised for not being sufficiently transparent, and former members of political parties were nominated as candidates to the Council.”

The MMC is currently facing criticism from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for the payment of almost a million rufiya in “living allowances” to Council members beyond their stipulated salaries.

On the advocacy side, Freedom House observed that the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) “regularly made statements regarding media freedom issues and journalists’ rights during the year, accusing the government and political leaders of interference with the private media in a number of cases”, however it noted that “an alternate group, the Maldives National Journalists’ Association (MNJA), was founded in 2010, reportedly in response to the perceived politicisation of the MJA.”

Private print media had expanded and represented a wide variety of viewpoints, the Freedom House report noted, “however some publications are owned by allies of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom or other political actors, who exercise considerable control over content. Most newspapers are not profitable and rely on financial backing from businessmen with strong political interests.”

The government had “generally” avoided interfering with internet access, used by approximately 28 percent of the population in 2010, however “the Ministry of Islamic Affairs announced in 2008 that Christian and anti-Islam websites would be blocked, arguing that they could negatively affect belief in Islam, and a number of websites were blocked by the Telecommunication Authority at Ministry’s request during 2009.”

Journalists meanwhile remained subject to “some harassment”, with incidents including an attack in August 2010 on the offices of VTV by “unknown assailants”, “and a police attack on journalists covering a political protest in October.” Verbal attacks included threats against media outlets from Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) MP Reeko Moosa, and repeated death threats against certain bloggers “from Islamist extremists”.

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Government plan to waive import duties, reduce costs

President Mohamed Nasheed has said the prices of goods will drop after the government implements a plan to waive import duties on certain products, starting January 2012.

Yesterday, Nasheed paid visits to several Male’ shops to observe the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which went into effect on Sunday, October 2.

Several shop owners said they had noticed several difficulties from the start of the GST, but that Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) was taking necessary actions to resolve these issues.

Others noted that the majority of businesses had been well prepared for the new tax system.

The tax system was applied to the Maldives as a means of increasing state income, which in turn is expected to support the growth and development of national public services such as social security, public welfare, and health coverage.

Nasheed said a more efficient tax administration system would be established once legal formalities are completed.

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Islamic Minister Dr Bari resigns

Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari has resigned from the position after pressure from the Adhaalath Party.

He confirmed to Minivan News today he that he had submitted the resignation letter to the President’s Office.

”I resigned out of respect for the decision made by the Adhaalath Party to break its coalition agreement with the government,” Dr Bari said. ”I sent the letter today and they have not responded yet.”

Dr Bari said that although he had resigned from the position as well as the Chairmanship of Adhaalath Party’s Religious Council, he would “remain active in politics.”

Recently, Dr Bari and State Islamic Minister Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed were asked by the Adhaalath Party to resign, however Sheikh Rasheed issued a statement explaining his refusal to do so.

Dr Bari had earlier resigned from the Chairmanship of Adhaalath Party’s Religious Council.

Today he told the media that he had resigned from the council’s chairmanship after the council issued a statement against his view on Imams, reciting Bismi aloud and permanently reciting Qunoot in Fajr prayers.

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair confirmed to Minivan News that Dr Bari had submitted his letter of resignation, but said President Nasheed had not had a chance to read it yet as he had been out this afternoon observing the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST).

Zuhair said he was “surprised” by Bari’s decision as he had “worked patiently and in accordance with the government’s policy” prior to his resignation.

“Even with the religious unity regulations, he worked patiently with the government in a non-partisan way, and he had the last word before it was published,” Zuhair said, noting that Bari had chosen the government’s side in 2009 over its previous alliance with the Jumhooree Party (JP).

Zuhair added that the President valued Dr Bari’s contribution and “patient and academic efforts” as Islamic Minister.

It was too early to speculate on a replacement, he said. However speculation today was that Sheikh Rasheed was among the most likely candidates.

Sheikh Rasheed did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Adhaalath Party accuses local science association of leading Fuvamulah students astray

The Adhaalath Party has accused the Maldives Association for the Advancement of Science (MAAS) of attempting to lead the students of Fuvamulah schools astray by lecturing them against the tenets of Islam.

In a press release issued by the party’s Fuvamulah branch, Adhaalath claimed that lecturers from MAAS tried to convince the students that human beings originated from monkeys and that “our forefathers were monkeys and we are sons of monkeys.”

‘’They [MAAS] told the students that everything was created from nothing, on its own, without a God,’’ the press release alleged.

The Adhaalath Party claimed MAAS lecturers taught the students about Big Bang Theory and Quantum Theory, and told the students that the earth, universe and everything in it “was created from nothing.”

‘’Students of Fuvamulah understand that it is impossible for something like a pencil to be created by itself. It is regrettable that this scientists’ association did not know as much,’’ the party said.

When the students refused to accept what the lecturers were trying to explain to them, the lecturers spoke in such a way as to make the students feel they were unscientific, said Adhaalath.

Founding member of MAAS, Ahid Rasheed, told Minivan News that the series of science lectures had been solicited by the school, and that students had shown “excitement and curiosity.”

“We were invited to give presentations on science and astronomy, and mostly gave an introduction to science, such as why it’s important, and how can serve as an introduction to the universe,” said Rasheed. “We introduced key concepts in the field such as findings by Einstein, the discovery of gravity, evolution and the Big Bang. But we didn’t promote anything, and we did not mention religion. That wasn’t why we were there.”

Rasheed said the presentations spanned one week and that school staff were in attendance. “If the school and teachers had any objection to what we were teaching, they would have said something. Until today, we have had no negative feedback from people on the island. They’ve actually been inviting us to do more presentations.”

Rasheed supposed the anxiety generated by the lectures was due to basic misconceptions of science, which he said were evident in the classroom.

“We had to do a whole lecture on basics. For example, a majority of the students didn’t believe that humans had gone to the moon,” he said.

In another case, Rasheed reported that younger students were asking basic questions such as why the sky is blue. “Students deserve to know about the basics of where they are, and the world around them,” he said.

The possible contradiction between science and Islam was broached by one student, Rasheed said. “I said what I tell others: that there might be some reservations from Islamic scholars, maybe because of misconceptions about science. But there is no contradiction between Islam and the Big Bang theory as far as I am aware. A majority of Islamic scientists agree with that.”

Pointing out that Islamic scientists were historically famous for their discoveries, Rasheed said “it’s sad because science is not something we can neglect, science means development.”

Adhaalath’s press release noted that the MAAS team was sponsored by the Fuvamulah council. The Fuvamulah councilor is a known member of the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), from which Adhaalath recently split.

‘’We strongly condemn this act of MAAS, which was also against the Religious Unity Act. We assure the people of Fuvamulah that we will not let them get away with this and will work on this issue until either action has been taken against them or until a trial is conducted,’’ the party said.

Violations of the Maldives’ Religious Unity Act are punishable by up to five years imprisonment.

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Man arrested for sexually assaulting 62 year-old grandmother

Police have arrested a 26 year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting his 62 year-old grandmother on the island of Hithadhoo of Addu City.

A police spokesperson confirmed to Minivan News that police had received a report of the attack this morning.

However, he did not provide further information regarding the incident.

Local media Haveeru reported that the 26 year-old man was a grandson of the woman, who was half paralysed. She was taken to Hithadhoo Regional Hospital.

A family member told the newspaper that the man had been forcing his grandmother since last Ramadan.

In April this year, a 19 year-old man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 74 year-old elderly woman on the same island.

Although the police arrested only one person in connection with the earlier case, the family at the time told media that there were three persons suspected of involvement.

Media at the time reported  eyewitnesses as seeing three young men near her house before she was dragged to the island’s beach and sexually assaulted.

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Internet expands opportunities for Maldivian artists

Opportunities for Maldivian artists have been expanded by the Maldivian Artists Directory, an internet platform for artists to share, showcase and market their talents and interests. The directory was developed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture with the support of the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) Male office and the National Centre for the Arts (NCA).

Artists who meet directory criteria may register on-line with a resume and contact information. Criteria vary by artistic category, and may include publication to an internet forum and community involvement. Artistic categories are performing, music, literary, visual and traditional.

“We believe the Directory will also provide opportunities for artists to better market themselves and their products as well as seek interested audiences and those wishing to commission artworks or invest in arts projects,” the ministry said in a press release.

The ministry intends for the directory to “help in defining a distinct Maldivian identity as manifest in the arts practices and traditions of the Maldives, both old and contemporary,” while making these cultural aspects more accessible to tourists.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture recently joined International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACC), a network connection arts councils and ministries worldwide.

In June this year, the Arts Development Fund was set up by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury. Criteria to award funding and other support was also set up, and the ministry will be helping local artists organize fund raisers.

Plans for an arts council are underway, however the ministry has delayed submitting the act stipulating these plans to Parliament “because of the present climate which we foresee as more conducive later in the year.”

The ministry has asked President Mohamed Nasheed to appoint a council with the minister’s advice. Of the appointments, however, those for theatre and drama, film making, literature, visual arts, music and crafts will be appointed independently.

Applications for the directory are available on-line.

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Maldives a tourism leader in Asia-Pacific region

The Maldives was among the most popular destinations in the Asia/Pacific (APAC) region for the month of July, with a 27 percent increase in visitors.

Hong Kong followed closely with a 22 percent increase in visitors.

“Even during times of economic uncertainty, the Asia/Pacific region continues to perform strongly, reinforcing its image and position as a powerhouse of international travel and tourism,” said Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Strategic Intelligence Centre director, John Koldowski.

Asia Pacific (APAC) tourism destinations continue to see an upward trend in visitors annually. July 2011 saw a seven percent regional rise in arrivals compared to the same month in 2010.

Although Japan suffered a 36 percent drop in July arrivals, allegedly due to the earthquake and tsunami, Northeast Asia on the whole saw a six percent gain on July 2010. The Pacific, meanwhile, experienced a 3 percent drop in foreign arrivals in July 2011.

A Care Ratings Maldives report recently stated that Maldives tourism has made an impressive comeback since the 2009 global recession, and investment from China and India is expected to surpass precedents in coming years.

This year, the Maldives reached 700,000 arrivals by September. According to Tourism Ministry statistics, 19.9 percent of these arrivals were Chinese.

The increased activity within the APAC region could have a cultural impact at home. “Maldivian staff are more familiar with Western culture,” said Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO), Mohamed Maleeh Jamal. “Many speak Italian, French, German. So, the shift required to cater to more Asian guests and customers has lead many Maldivians working in the industry to familiarize themselves with Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages and cultural practices.”

Jamal pointed to the 2004 tsunami as the turning point for the Maldives’ tourism market.

“Before then, tourism was dominated by western European countries, and travel companies in China and the Middle East had limited access. Resorts were reaching occupancy levels regularly, and so expansion was not necessary,” said Jamal.

After the tsunami, however, interest from western Europe declined and the tourism sector was forced to work more closely with neighboring countries and their travel agencies. “The Maldives was also receiving complaints that the market wasn’t diverse enough,” said Jamal.

Jamal added that China is an important trading partner for the Maldives, and there was room to expand the business relationship.

But the Maldives has several advantages in the Chinese market. “All countries want to get tourists from China, and the Maldives has an advantage,” said Jamal. “It carries an image of paradise islands and tropical vacations, which is very appealing. In addition, the Maldives is becoming a celebrity hot spot. Given the celebrity worshiping culture that is increasingly common in China, the Maldives is very appealing.”

Jamal commented that Sri Lanka is trying hard to compete with the Maldives’ market.

Tourism is the largest contributor to Maldives’ GDP and foreign currency, accounting for 70 percent of the national GDP indirectly. Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) aims to draw 1 million tourists to the Maldives by the end of 2012.

PATA international visitor arrival figures suggest that improved economic stability is bolstering APAC’s tourism trend.

According to Care Ratings, Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) surged this year as China’s economy flourished and European economies made a slow comeback. Chinese tourists are projected to account for 15 percent of Maldives FTA by 2020.

But PATA studies note that the source market is shifting into northern Europe and Asia.

Koldowski pointed to a 50 percent increase in Russian arrivals so far this year, and a 14 percent jump in South Asian arrivals in July with 90,000 more visitors than the same month in 2010.

Southeast Asian arrivals to the region grew by 12 percent during the same time frame.

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Parking garages to relieve Male’ congestion

Four parking buildings for motorcycles and cars are to be built on Male to relieve congestion, said Galolhu-South councillor Ibrahim Shujau. Work is said to begin soon.

The council allegedly discussed erecting one parking garage at the now-vacant parking lot Maafannu Laamige, west of Theemuge, reports Haveeru.

The locations of the other three buildings require the National Planning Council’s permission.

Shujau told local media that the council plans to charge a parking fee for both cars and motorcycles. He added that the parking garages would make streets more comfortable for pedestrians and drivers.

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