EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND PLANNING EDU5810

1. EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND PLANNINGEDU5810 Lecturer : Dr. Ramli Bin Basri POLICY PROPOSAL Group Members Julina Shanti Subramaniyan GS 37776 HussainMusawwir GS37833 AishathShazla GS37832 AbdurahmonNorinboyev GS38301

2. Title To address the issues of outnumbered expatriate teachers at Secondary Level in Maldives Education System.

3. Maldives

4. Introduction The Maldives • The Maldives is an island nation situated in the Indian Ocean consisting of about 1,190 islands out of which only 200 are inhabited; about 90 islands are used as tourist resort hotels and a handful of islands used as industrial islands • The main economic sectors in the Maldives are tourism, fisheries, manufacturing, transport, and other related services, out of which tourism and fisheries constitute the main industries bringing in foreign exchange earnings.

5. Main economic sectors

6. Education in the Maldives • In the Maldives, formal education starts when children are at the age of 3 (Figure 1) and primary school education starts from the age of 6. • Pupils spend 5 years at secondary level, finishing school education at 17 years of age.

7. Student Population and schools and teachers • state-run schools, • state subsidized; • community schools; • public-private partnership schools (PPPs) and private schools. • Altogether, 375 schools provide education for just under 88,000 students, a quarter of the national population • There total of 7830 teachers

8. Policy scope National/ Government Aspiration Teaching & Learning School/College/University/ Institution Our Policy Scope/ Environment Finance & Budget Teacher/Professionalism Higher Education 7

9. Background of the issue. Since from the inception of English medium schools in 1960s,Maldives has been relying on expatriate teachers. “Human rights commission of Maldives note that from the very beginning of English medium schools in Maldives has continued to depend on foreign teachers. “ From the very beginning, education policy makers have been trying to bring more local teachers into the system however until today the number of expatriate teachers at secondary level remains more than locals.

10. Existing statistical data about the Issue • The number of expatriate teachers at secondary level remains more than locals. (59% teachers are from foreign countries and only 41% contributes from local in the secondary level as of 2012)

11. Bar graph to compare locals and expatriates at different level Source: MOE

12. Percentage of number of local and expatriates teachers at secondary level

13. Demographic data on the issue

14. Current policies related to the issue • Expatriate teachers are given more incentives than local teachers. (Service allowance, food allowance, living allowance and return ticket to their country.) • Each year the graduates among in Maldives national University (MNU) outnumber teachers than any other single field, however the number of graduates still not enough to meet national requirements, especially the need for secondary level. After completion of graduation some of them choose fields unrelated to teaching and some of them choose to serve as teachers but in institutes other then schools.

15. Other factors related to the issue • Geographical setting of the country aerial view

16. Other factors related to the issue Geographical setting of the country is another factor that affects the number of local teachers in the field; islands are scattered to wide area. The fact that islands are isolated and the facilities in many islands other than capital Male’ are not developed to fulfill basic needs of modern man.

17. Other factors related to the issue • Professional development and Promotion • According to CSC guideline, civil servants should get promotion in every four years of service, based on their performance. But CSC does not give much concern on this, may be because of budget constrain. • Well-planned and systematic in-service training is not provided to teachers. • Teacher service bond not monitored • Teaching profession is not seen as an attractive career among school leavers.

18. Main reasons for addressing the issue • Expatriate teachers risks Maldives educational philosophy. (The Maldivian education system is based on Islamic values. One of the main national development goal is to develop within an education system based on Islamic principles, the awareness among all citizens that,asmembers of the nation, they are also part of muslimummah) • Disciplinary problems in schools. (Many schools report that these disciplinary problems are comparatively high in expatriates teacher’s class hours. Expatriate Teachers have difficulty in controlling the class room due to the communication gap) • Commitment of teachers. (Expatriates are not as committed to teaching, as locals. They do not have the sense of belongings to the local community and expatriates take the job in Maldives only with the motivation of improving their financial status)

19. continue….. • Hasty increase in expatriates has got a lot of problems in Maldives including social, economic • Many local teachers are leaving the profession due to demoralization and de-professionalization

20. Data Analysis and Forecasting • Teachers trend locals and expatriates in lower secondary level

21. Data Analysis and Forecasting • Teachers trend locals and expatriates in lower secondary level

22. Data Analysis and Forecasting Our forecast • Train 400 new teachers every year starting from 2014 January • In 5 years 2000 new trained teachers enter to teaching profession • Total of Rf 2.0 billion (81 million US$) should be spend from state budget to achieve the target result.

23. DESIGNING PLANS TO REDUCE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS BY 80% IN 5 YEARS

24. Conceptual framework Teaching service commission

25. Policy options to reduce the number of expatriate teachers’ in Maldives • Teacher development(pre-service training) • Making teaching as attractive career • Retaining existing teachers in the system. • Additional incentives to teachers who work in remote islands. • Establish Teaching Service Commission.

26. 1. Teacher development(pre-service training) • Policy objective: • To add more teachers into the teaching work-force. • Shortage of trained teachers is one of the main reasons for recruiting expatriate teachers; hence it is necessary to train more local teachers to meet the national requirements.

27. 2. Making teaching as attractive career • Policy objective: Attract school leavers and potential candidates in other fields into teaching profession. At present situation in Maldives, teaching is not perceived as an attractive profession. According to OECD report 2005, major concerns related to attractiveness in teaching career are: about half the countries report serious concerns about maintaining an adequate supply of good quality teachers, especially in high-demand subject areas.

29. 3.Retaining existing teachers in the system • Policy objective: To stop teachers leaving from teaching profession. Maldives experience high rates of teacher attrition, especially among new teachers; one obvious reason for this is unavailability of in-service training and professional development.

30. 4. Additional incentives to teachers who work in remote islands. • Policy objective: To motivate teachers to teach in remote islands.

31. Establish Teaching Service Commission. • standards set by the Ministry for entry into teaching to assure the quality and status of the teaching force and the quality of the delivery of education; and • all regulations governing the conditions of service of teachers with respect to employment, appointment, transfer, discipline and termination of teachers in government

32. Implication • New jobs will be created • Financial expenses from state budget increases • Teachers related issues can be minimized

33. Budget allocation

34. Financial Implication • Government has to spent huge amount in improving infrastructures and building new campus. • Other civil servants will pressure government for pay raise. • Allocation for loan amount can be questioned by other sectors.

35. Job Position Implication • Teacher Profession will have new image among the society. • More locals will want to become a teacher due to the benefits and facilities. • Reduce in the number of expatriate teachers.

36. Social Implication • Identity of the locals can be more strong. • Teachers are more appreciated. • Teachers will have more confident.

37. Summary • When the numbers of expatriate teachers are high, the community faces many problems knowingly and unknowingly. This also has a negative effect of the objective of recruiting expatriates to the Maldivian educational system. Today we face the risk of losing our identity, faith to Islam, the rich, unique culture and a treat to economy, and a root cause for many disciplinary problems in schools. • Therefore we proposed a policy to reduce the expatriate teachers and to increase the number of qualified, quality locals. They include: Teacher development (pre-service training); Making teaching as attractive career; retaining existing teachers in the system; revise the tuition guideline and establish a mechanism to monitor the tuition guideline for expatriate teachers; additional incentives to teachers who work in remote islands. • Because of the geographical setting of Maldives and small islands there are many draw backs which might arise. Building universities, building flats, improving medical facilities of remote islands will have a financial implication, but in the long run benefits are more due to urbanization of the area. . Political issues, financial issues, educated trainers to train teachers in the islands will be a challenge