Crisis won’t deter spending on higher education

Countries in South, South-West and Central Asia have decided to increase public spending on higher education notwithstanding the global financial crisis. This resolve to ensure that it does not suffer for want of funds was made at the conclusion of the two-day, sub-regional conference of South, South-West and Central Asia on Higher Education here on Thursday.

Adopting the resolution at the preparatory meeting of the region for the World Conference on Higher Education — slated for June in Paris — members said there was need to explore alternatives to augment available resources. They decided to encourage all stakeholders in local communities to participate in resource mobilisation.

Also, they favour expansion of higher education through national and regional funding. Though expansion of higher education in the region has been largely met through an expansion of the public system, the participating countries said possibilities of expanding private initiatives — consistent with public objectives — must be explored. Stating that public support was essential in those states where other actors might not be available,declaration placed on record the fact that contributions from philanthropic initiatives supplemented the expansion of higher education.

New approach

The Delhi Declaration also acknowledges the role of private initiatives in meeting the rapidly growing need for higher education, particularly technical and professional courses. However, the participating nations were of the view that private institutions should be inclusive in their approach to access. Also, the signatories urged private providers to balance disciplines for a well-rounded development of human resource in the region in keeping with the national regulatory framework.

The Declaration called for increasing enrolment in higher education in the region for participation in the global economy. It also recognised the need to increase enrolment to specially prepare quality faculty for all levels of education.

The Declaration said there was need to establish regulatory frameworks to ensure optimum benefits of cross-border educational opportunities and promote mutual collaboration and equal partnerships.

The two-day meeting was organised by the UNESCO in collaboration with Union Human Resource Development Ministry and drew participation from 14 countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. It was the fourth in the series of six regional conferences being organised in the run-up to the World Conference.

Source: thehindu.com

Maldives teachers strike over pay

About 1,500 teachers in the Maldives have began an indefinite strike after salary rises promised by the government failed to materialise.

The capital, Male, has been worst affected, with nearly half of all teachers on strike and many schools sending students home early.

The strike has hit all areas of a country made up of hundreds of islands.

Education Minister Zahiya Zareer said nearly a quarter of teachers did not turn up to work on Monday.

'Negotiation'

A teachers' association is now demanding that a pay structure agreed in late 2006 be put into place immediately after it backed down on earlier calls to double salaries.

"Since last year [the government] has been saying they will try, try, try. But teachers are no longer accepting their efforts," said Abdulla Mohamed, spokesperson for the Association of Teacher's Link.

An official at the education ministry sympathised with the teachers' demands but urged them to negotiate rather than strike.

The basic salary of a teacher is $329 a month, with an additional $157 for overtime and other benefits.

Finance Minister Gasim Ibrahim said on Sunday that he could not accommodate their demands in this year's budget, which is already $180m short.

The teachers have now downgraded their demands, calling for immediate implementation of the original pay structure pledged around 18 months ago, which accords pay to qualifications and positions held.

The move comes after a series of pay rises to civil servants in the run-up to the country's first multi-party presidential elections, due to be held before 10 October.

It is the first time President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who has been in power for 30 years and is seeking a seventh term, will face opponents at the polls.

The strike is the second major industrial dispute the country has seen after a strike by taxi drivers in June 2007.

The government, which has faced criticism in the past for a crackdown on pro-democracy riots, did not recognise last year's strike.

But a new constitution, which is expected to be ratified by the president within weeks, will grant a host of democratic rights to citizens for the first time - including the right to take industrial action.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Top marks for school record - Maldives in 100

BAHRAIN registered the highest gross school enrolment in the Arab region this year, an international report has revealed. The ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary education was 86.1 per cent for Bahrain, against 74.9 for Kuwait, 77.7 for Qatar and 59.9 for the UAE, said the UNDP Human Development Report (HDR) 2007/2008, which was launched yesterday.

Bahrain also increased its human development index (HDI) value this year, though its global ranking out of 177 countries dropped two places from 39 to 41.

Bahrain is moving in the right direction of human and economic development, Sayed Aqa said.

"Bahrain is progressing on HDI scoring positioning the country at 41," he said.

"It has made good progress compared to last year as its HDI value has improved from 0.859 to 0.866."

"Only two countries in the world have made better progress than Bahrain and both of them happened to be GCC members - Qatar and the UAE."

In global ranking, Kuwait came first in the region ranking 33, followed by Qatar at 35, the UAE at 39 and Bahrain at 41.

Three other countries also came under the high human development group.

They are Libya at 56, Oman at 58 and Saudi Arabia at 61.

Bahrain's HDI value of 0.866 is above the average HDI value for all Arab countries, which stands at 0.699, said Mr Aqa.

"It is also above the average HDI for all developing countries of 0.691."

The HDI measures a country's achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and standard of living.

Life expectancy at birth in Bahrain increased from 73 in 2004 to 75.2 this year.

This is against 77.3 in Kuwait, 75 in Qatar and 78.3 in the UAE.

The adult literacy rate in Bahrain was 86.5pc, against 93.3pc in Kuwait, 89pc in Qatar and 88.7 in the UAE.

The GDP per capita in Bahrain increased this year to $21,482 (BD8,072) from last year's $20,399 (BD7,665).

The highest GDP per capita was recorded in Qatar at $27,664 (BD10,396), followed by Kuwait at $26,321 (BD9,891) and the UAE at $25,514 (BD9,588).

"However, when all the HDI components are measured, Bahrain is making a steady progress," said Mr Aqa.

"The HDI for Bahrain has continuously raised every year from 83.9pc in 2003 to 86.6pc in 2007."

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nazar Al Baharna said the kingdom was not concerned about the drop in its HDI ranking.

"Our HDI value has been steadily increasing, though our resources are limited compared to other Gulf countries," he noted.

"Bahrain has made consistent progress in basic human development indicators over the past 15 years."

During this period, life expectancy at birth increased by nearly four years, GDP per capita rose by 55pc and adult literacy and combined gross enrolment are both four percentage higher than in 1990.

"The education reforms launched in Bahrain have attracted global attention," he noted.

Dr Jassim Hussain MP, who attended the launch, said Bahrain has to make its priorities very clear.

"We have to spend more on education and health care," he suggested.

The rankings...

1 Iceland: 2 Norway: 3 Australia: 4 Canada

5 Ireland: 6 Sweden: 7 Switzerland: 8 Japan

9 Netherlands: 10 France: 11 Finland

12 United States: 13 Spain: 14 Denmark

15 Austria: 16 United Kingdom: 17 Belgium

18 Luxembourg: 19 New Zealand: 20 Italy

21 Hong Kong, China: 22 Germany: 23 Israel

24 Greece: 25 Singapore: 26 South Korea

27 Slovenia: 28 Cyprus: 29 Portugal 30 Brunei Darussalam: 31 Barbados: 32 Czech Republic

33 Kuwait: 34 Malta 35 Qatar: 36 Hungary

37 Poland: 38 Argentina 39 UAE: 40 Chile

41 Bahrain: 42 Slovakia: 43 Lithuania

44 Estonia 45 Latvia: 46 Uruguay: 47 Croatia

48 Costa Rica:49 Bahamas: 50 Seychelles

51 Cuba: 52 Mexico: 53 Bulgaria

54 Saint Kitts and Nevis: 55 Tonga: 56 Libya

57 Antigua and Barbuda: 58 Oman

59 Trinidad and Tobago

60 Romania: 61 Saudi Arabia: 62 Panama

63 Malaysia 64 Belarus: 65 Mauritius

66 Bosnia and Herzegovina: 67 Russia

68 Albania: 69 Macedonia: 70 Brazil

71 Dominica 72 Saint Lucia: 73 Kazakhstan

74 Venezuela 75 Colombia: 76 Ukraine

77 Samoa: 78 Thailand

79 Dominican Republic: 80 Belize: 81 China

82 Grenada: 83 Armenia

84 Turkey: 85 Suriname: 86 Jordan

87 Peru: 88 Lebanon 89 Ecuador

90 Philippines: 91 Tunisia: 92 Fiji

93 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

94 Iran: 95 Paraguay: 96 Georgia

97 Guyana: 98 Azerbaijan: 99 Sri Lanka

100 Maldives 101 Jamaica: 102 Cape Verde

103 El Salvador: 104 Algeria: 105 Vietnam

106 Occupied Palestinian Territories

107 Indonesia 108 Syria :109 Turkmenistan

110 Nicaragua: 111 Moldova: 112 Egypt

113 Uzbekistan: 114 Mongolia: 115 Honduras

116 Kyrgyzstan: 117 Bolivia: 118 Guatemala

119 Gabon: 120 Vanuatu: 121 South Africa

122 Tajikistan: 123 S‹o TomŽ and Principe

124 Botswana: 125 Namibia: 126 Morocco

127 Equatorial Guinea: 128 India

129 Solomon Islands 130 Lao People's Democratic Republic: 131 Cambodia: 132 Myanmar

133 Bhutan: 134 Comoros

135 Ghana: 136 Pakistan: 137 Mauritania

138 Lesotho: 139 Congo: 140 Bangladesh

141 Swaziland: 142 Nepal: 143 Madagascar

144 Cameroon: 145 Papua New Guinea

146 Haiti: 147 Sudan: 148 Kenya

149 Djibouti: 150 Timor-Leste: 151 Zimbabwe

152 Togo: 153 Yemen: 154 Uganda: 155 Gambia 156 Senegal: 157 Eritrea: 158 Nigeria: 159 Tanzania

160 Guinea: 161 Rwanda: 162 Angola: 163 Benin 164 Malawi: 165 Zambia: 166 C™te d'Ivoire

167 Burundi: 168 Congo: 169 Ethiopia: 170 Chad 171 Central African Republic: 172 Mozambique

173 Mali: 174 Niger: 175 Guinea-Bissau

176 Burkina Faso: 177 Sierra Leone

Source: Gulf Daily News

CIMA expands operations to the Maldives

CIMA announced yesterday the accreditation of the first CIMA Learning Partner in the Maldives. This is a landmark achievement for CIMA in the region and a turning point in their expansion outside the primary market of Colombo.

The naming of Villa College as a CIMA Learning Listed College is a significant achievement for the institute and brings with it opportunities for CIMA to contribute to the growing skills requirement in the Maldives.

The Maldives is home to a population of 11,000 Cambridge O’ level students, of which 2,000 go onto take the London A’ level examinations.

The education available in the Maldives is however limited to primary and secondary education and thus students wishing to pursue higher education are required to travel abroad.

Despite this setback many Maldivian students pursue their higher education including professional qualifications, university degrees and college diplomas in Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries.

In accrediting Villa College, CIMA will now be directly servicing the demand for the Chartered Management Accounting qualification among businesses and students on the islands.

The launch of CIMA in the Maldives will also bring a multitude of benefits to the region as a whole.

The partnership with Villa College is an excellent facilitator for CIMA in Sri Lanka where the CIMA qualification has been well established for over 40 years.

CIMA tuition in the Maldives will further attract students to CIMA Learning Quality Partners and employers in Sri Lanka thus strengthening the talent pool available to the Sri Lankan business community.

The initiative also supports the aim of the Ministry of Education for the Republic of Maldives by widening opportunities for higher education and training, and endowing Maldivians with the necessary knowledge and skills to be productive, able and active participants both in the national and international arena.

2007 has witnessed CIMA Sri Lanka actively seeking involvement outside their main market of Colombo to support education in Sri Lanka and directly benefit the student population in smaller communities in aspects of professional development.

High quality tuition is critical to the successful delivery of the CIMA qualification. Sri Lanka has for some years provided some of the best CIMA tuition in the world for its students and is home to award winning lecturers with internationally acclaimed pass rates. CIMA lecturers in Sri Lanka will provide valuable support to Villa College to ensure the foundations of world class CIMA teaching are established in the Maldives.

Villa College was established in 2007 as part of the Villa Group of companies. Villa is one of the largest groups of companies in the Maldives and has established a reputation for excellence and sponsors hundreds of students annually to pursue higher education in overseas education institutes. Over the years however, it has become apparent that there is a requirement for the provision of higher education and training on the islands themselves. Recognizing this need Villa College was founded to provide opportunities for prospective students to study through a fully fledged tertiary education and training institute.

On a recent visit to the Maldives, Mr. Robert Jelly, CIMA’s Director of Education based in London, Ms. Tam Kam Peng, Head of CIMA Learning Partnerships and Mr. Bradley Emerson, CEO of CIMA Sri Lanka inspected the facilities available at Villa and made presentations to a number of enthusiastic students.

Mr. Robert Jelly commented that “Enabling the delivery of the CIMA qualification in the Maldives by harnessing the world class experience of CIMA Lecturers in Sri Lanka and the support of the CIMA Sri Lanka Division is an exciting new initiative for CIMA. Providing access for students, Government and employers in the Maldives to the premier and largest Management Accounting qualification in the world will enable that country to provide new talent and skills for the development of its economy.”

Source: Daily Mirror

Broadband revolutionizes education on remote Maldives atolls

The standard of education was falling in the Maldives before broadband Internet access brought a quiet online revolution to classrooms in the Indian Ocean atoll nation.

RASHDOO ISLAND, Maldives (AFP) - Now Asina Ahmed hooks up to the Internet and uses a smart board with a touch-sensitive screen to liven up a maths class for a group of young Maldivian children on remote Rashdoo Island.

Ahmed invites eight-year-old Aishath Zayba Ismail to count the number of cherries in a fruit basket. Ismail approaches the board, places her hand over the images and glides each cherry across the white board.

With a special pen she scribbles "four cherries" on the screen.

Before the smart board arrived, there was no interactive learning in Rashdoo Island, 37 miles (60 kilometres) west of the capital island Male.

Broadband connectivity across the atolls has enabled interactive learning methods like the smart board to take off, putting the fun back into classrooms and encouraging children's communications skills.

"The smart board has made me a child-friendly teacher. The lessons are e-mailed each day and I can use the Internet to show children little things like how a cherry tree farm looks like, unlike a photograph in a text book," Ahmed said.

Literacy rates in this Indian Ocean archipelago exceed 90 percent, with nearly all children receiving some form of primary education, but the quality of teaching remains low, partly due to the low skills of the teachers themselves.

Home to 300,000 Sunni Muslims, some 70 percent of the population live on islands far from the capital.

The UN Children's Fund UNICEF estimates that more than 30 percent of Maldivian teachers are untrained with many islands having up to 100 pupils per trained primary teacher.

"It's down to basics. Transport is costly making it expensive for children to travel between islands to get a better education and for teachers to upgrade their skills," said UNICEF representative for the Maldives, Ken Maskall.

Basic services are expensive, given the geographic nature of this nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 850 kilometres (550 miles) across the equator.

UNICEF estimates that islands with the lowest population still do not have access to secondary school and around 12 islands provide schooling only up to grade five.

"People are so scattered in different little islands that this type of teaching method helps schools and communities to develop," Maskall told AFP during a tour of the island.

UNICEF has spent more than two million dollars to set up broadband-enabled learning centres which will link 20 atolls in the Maldives by the end of this year.

Rashdoo, one of the Maldives' 200 inhabited islands, is among the 11 islands to be connected so far.

"The smart board has brought the world to children's feet," said Rashdoo Island chief Mohamed Shafi, a former teacher himself. "I can sense the frustration of learning is quietly reducing."

Source: Sawf News

Maldives Education Minister on working visit to Brunei

The Minister of Education of the Republic of Maldives, Ms Zahiya Zareer arrived at the Brunei International Airport yesterday (29th May 2007) afternoon to begin a three-day working visit to the Sultanate. Ms Zareer, who is accompanied by two officers from the Maldives' Ministry of Education, was welcomed on arrival by two Senior Officers from the Brunei Ministry of Education. Among the places visited by Ms Zareer yesterday were the Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College and the Nakhoda Ragam Vocational School.

Source: Brunei-Online

Maldives student attacked in India

MALE, April 26 (HNS) -- A Maldivian student was attacked in Bangalore, India, on Tuesday while on his way home from college and has been admitted in hospital.

Mohamed Ahmed, 25, studying for a degree in information technology, was attacked by a group of unknown assailants; the assault left him with head injuries.

According to Mohamed Ahmed’s college mate, Mohamed Musthafa Farooq who spoke to Haveeru on the phone from Bangalore, the incident happened around 4:00 in the evening on Tuesday while Mohamed was walking home with a classmate.

“While on the way home after finishing a college exam , a group of people coming from behind demanded to step aside and grabbed Mohamed’s head,” said Musthafa. “Mohamed batted the hand away and accidently hit the man nearby. In anger the man picked up a stone and hit Mohamed across the head. We can’t tell whether these people were intoxicated or under what condition they were in.”

Musthafa said after the incident, he quickly took Mohamed to a nearby hospital and after a CT scan the doctors have said that Mohamed had suffered internal bleeding in his head. Afterwards when his condition became serious, they had transferred him to the intensive care unit and had even performed an operation on him. Musthafa added that the doctor had even said that Mohamed would need cosmetic surgery as well.

“He seems to be recovering well now,” said Musthafa. “He can somewhat talk but he’s unable to open his eyes yet.”

Musthafa also said that he had personally contacted the Maldivian High Commissioner Anbaree Abdul Sattar in India as well as Mohamed’s family about the attack.

According to Mohamed’s Father, Ahmed Ibrahim, his son’s condition is not serious anymore. He said that he had received word of the incident only on Wednesday but that he will be flying to India to see his son on Thursday.

Musthafa said that earlier, a similar incident had also occurred when a group of intoxicated people had attacked another group of foreign students studying in Bangalore Garden City College.

Source: Haveeru

Maldivian student wins first place in Cambridge International Examination Biology subject.

MALE, April 22 (HNS) -- A local girl from Aminiya School was chosen amongst the top two achievers in last year’s Cambridge O’ Level examinations. The girl who was achieved the best results in Biology and the top achiever in Cambridge International Examination was Fathmath Naaziya Abdullah (pic) from Henveiyru Bokarumaage.

In addition to receiving ‘A’ grade in Biology, Naaziya had also achieved ‘A’ in all the eight subjects she sat in last year’s examinations and also managed to get the first place in the Maldivian Top Ten O’ Level students.

“This is truly unbelievable,” said Naaziya in an interview with Haveeru Daily. “I never expected to win anything on an international level. But I was working hard on achieving the first place in the Top 10 O’ level students. I studied for Biology just as hard as I did for the other subjects. There were no differences.”

Naaziya who is currently working in Voice of Maldives on an opportunity given by Aminiya School, has made up her mind to do further studies in Medicine. Naaziya had also been awarded a scholarship for receiving first place amongst the Top 10 O’ Level students. Naaziya has also been accepted in Center for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE).

This is the first time that Cambridge University has awarded the Best 10 achievers from around the world and 15 Maldivian students were amongst the candidates selected for the list. This is also the first time in the last 44 years that a Maldivian student has achieved a position in the world top ten students. Oxford O’ Level examinations was replaced by Cambridge examination in the year 2001.

In addition to Naaziya, the other Maldivian students who were selected for World Top 10 candidates were, Aminiya students: Aishath Jumaina Ahmed, Mariyam Hishmaa Shaahidh, Mariyam Yooma and Agaram Krishnan Suvaamiyashri; Dharumavantha students: Ahmed Ameel Shakeel, Hussein Rasheed, Ali Malik Moosa and Gufuraan Abdul Gafoor; Seenu atoll Muhibudheen students: Aminath Rausha Haadhee and Hawwa Imaan; Majeedhiyaa students: Hassan Sinaan, Mohamed Naajil and Ibrahim Shiyaaz as well as Nasrullah Ali from Gaafu Dhaalu atoll Thinadhoo, Kurangi, who sat for the examination as a private candidate.

A ceremony was held last Thursday night to award the Maldivian students who were selected for the World Top 10 achievers. Dr Newman Burdett, Head of International Examination and Regulations Manager of Cambridge International Examination also attended the ceremony as well as Education Minister Zahiya Zareer.

Source: Haveeru

New Delhi to have first SAARC University

NEW DELHI: The first South Asian University (SAU) is to be established in the Indian capital New Delhi.

The decision to have the first SAU in India was taken at a meeting of the university regulatory bodies of the SAARC countries and would now be ratified by the ministerial meeting beginning early April.

The concept note was prepared by Guhar Rizvi, a Bangladeshi national, of Harvard University.

The proposed SAU would witness free flow of students as well as faculty from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives.

Sources say it would take another two-three years before SAU becomes a reality.

The sources said SAU would be a modern university and be developed as a centre of excellence on the lines of American Ivy League universities.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in 2005 proposed that SAU would provide world-class facilities and professional faculty to students and researchers drawn from every SAARC countries.

Once the ministerial ratification takes place, a steering committee would work out the finer details of the proposed SAU.

A consensus on various courses to be taught also needs to be evolved.

Source:

Students learn the importance of water

STUDENTS from primary and secondary schools in Suva took part in activities which taught them about the importance of water.

Students of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial School and Stella Maris Primary attended World Water Day celebrations at the Suva Civic Centre yesterday.

With the theme 'Coping with water scarcity' students and teachers took part in activities which highlighted ways to conserve water.

The activities were organised by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and Live and Learn Environmental Education.

Doris Ravai, a formal education co-ordinator, said water education played an important part in environmental education programs.

"The booklet Our Islands with Water is a positive approach to the 2007 theme and examines ways people in the Pacific can deal with our water resources," she said.

Ms Ravai said education was essential to the International Water for Life Decade and Millennium Development Goals of halving, by 2015, the number of people without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

She said a student activity book and stickers have been sent to Live and Learn offices in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, the Maldives and Cambodia.

"Copies have also gone to SOPAC for regional use and the Ministry of Education," Ms Ravai said.

Source: Fiji Times

SAARC countries favours educational programmes for children

To check drug abuse in the region, representatives of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries have favoured educational programmes for children and empowerment programmes for women and other vulnerable groups.

Representatives of SAARC countries--Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka made the suggestions at the day-long meeting on Drug Demand Reduction Rehabilitation of Victims of Drug Abuse yesterday, PTI reported here today quoting official sources.

Veena Chhotray, Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment inaugurated the meeting which discussed issues of common concern relating to drug abuse in the SAARC region and underlined the need for concerted effort to fight the menace.

Though a national survey had been conducted in India some years ago with various epidemiological as well as focussed thematic components, she said there was a need for more representative and in-depth study for authentic data on extent, pattern and trends of drug abuse.

Delegates from other SAARC countries also briefed the meeting on the actions being taken in their respective countries to reduce demand for drugs and rehabilitate the victims of drug abuse.

The meeting finalised recommendations for implementation by relevant SAARC bodies for awareness generation, counselling intervention and rehabilitation of drug-abuse victims.