2 years for 9th graders to prepare for O-Levels, minister says

Education Minister Ismail Shafeeu has denied media reports that students going to Grade 8 this year will sit for their O-Levels next year. He said that next year, students going to 9th and 10th grades this year will participate in the O-Level. Therefore, there will be two rounds of O-Level exams in the country next year.

There have been reports in some media that the education ministry is planning to make it mandatory for students going to Grade 8 this year to sit for O-level exams by the end of next year and finish class 10. 

When asked by Atoll Times about it, Shafeeu said he had no plans to involve any student in O-levels by dropping a grade or a term.

Some media reported that students going to grade 8 this year will participate in next year's O-Level examinations. This year, 8th graders will start the new academic year at the end of May. So these students are now in 7th grade.

The students, who are currently in grade eight, started grade 8 in August last year. These students will move to grade 9 in May after completing their two academic terms. They will go to grade 10 in March 2025.

Shafeeu said the students will participate in next year's O-Level with the syllabus well covered.

The minister said the O-Levels will be held twice next year with the changes made to move the new academic year to January. Students entering grade 10 in May this year will participate in the O-Level examination in June/July next year.

Secondary grades for the new academic year starting in May:

The O-Level of the students currently studying in 10th will be held in May/June this year

Shafeeu said the students who are currently studying in grade eight will have plenty of time to prepare for O-Level. It has now been decided to teach the Cambridge syllabus from grade 8 onwards, he said.

Previously, the Cambridge syllabus was covered in grades 9-10.

The reason for the introduction of the Cambridge syllabus in Grade 8, the minister said, was to give students in Grade 8 two years to complete the syllabus.

Currently in grades 7-8, they are studying a combination of subjects related to the Cambridge syllabus. It will also make it easier to prepare for O-Level.

"And we still have not even touched this year's academic year yet. So this year and next November [2025], these children will have enough time to complete the Cambridge syllabus in two years," he said.

"Therefore, taking the exam in November 2025 will not deprive these children of any period of study”.

Shafeeu said they are now working to recover the six months lost since the start of the new academic year in August. Special adjustments have already been made, he said. He said the move was made after consultation with the syllabus team, school principals and many relevant stakeholders.

Shafeeu said the students currently studying in grade 8 should be in grade 9 in January this year if the academic year had not been extended for six months in 2021. If the current academic year is not shortened to April, many academic days of the children's lives will be wasted again, he said.

If the academic year continues as was set by the previous government to begin in August, the students will finish their A-Level examinations when they are close to 20 years old, he said.

"In fact, the students who are currently in Grade 8 will benefit the most from this decision. The children who are currently in Grade 10 and Grade 9 are the children who do not have the benefit of capturing the lost six months”.

The Education Minister said that even if they were low grades, it would not hurt to start teaching the Cambridge syllabus in Grade 8 as they are older in age. He believes that the children will have the ability to absorb that knowledge.

In connection with the changes made by the government: