Aiming for as many students in grade 12, education says
Ahmed said 23 schools started teaching A Level as a pilot project.
By
Aminath Shifleen
The aim is to make school completion grade 12 instead of grade 10, the Ministry of Education said.
At one time, in the education system of Maldives, the school leaving grade was 7. Since then, with the introduction of GCE O/L, to date, children's formal education is up to grade 10. However, the Education Ministry’s intention now is to make all children complete A-level in order to complete formal education up by grade 12.
Speaking on PSM's 'Hendhunu Hendhuna' programme, Education Ministry State Minister Ahmed Mohamed said the ministry's aim is to expand A Level as much as possible. That way all the children will have the opportunity to complete their A/L examinations just like they complete tenth grade, he said.
With this in mind, the Ministry of Education has now made a major change in the criteria for awarding places in A-Level. All children who complete grade 10 will be given the opportunity in grades 11-12. Twenty-three schools will start A-level next month and a large number of students will be admitted under the new criteria.
Ahmed said 23 schools started teaching A Level as a pilot project.
“Our goal is to expand A-level opportunities for as many children as possible,” he said.
Ahmed said the 21st century education system is changing and A-level should be the exit of the system. They also started to give as many students as possible the opportunity to study at A level, with the intention of changing that in the future.
Noting that the law in Maldives considers students as children until they reach the age of 18, he said children should be kept in the school environment until they reach that age.
