President Ibrahim Mohamed has laid out his administration's vision for Maldives' education while delivering remarks at this year’s prize-giving ceremony celebrating the top 10 achievers of the 2018 A’Level examinations. The President congratulated the students on their outstanding accomplishments and emphasized that while it is every individual student's responsibility to pursue academic excellence, it is the responsibility of his administration and teachers to instil authentic Islamic values in all our students so that they will grow up to be responsible citizens and good Muslims.
The President further expressed his expectation that though students should be able to pursue a higher education wherever they chose, they should always rely on their Islamic faith as their guiding compass, and be mindful that their conduct should reflect well on the Muslim community. He asked students to always remember their roots as denizens of an island nation and to use their education to help the Maldives grapple with some of the pressing issues we confront, such as climate change.
Further, President Solih illuminated some of the steps this administration has taken to ease the pursuit of higher education for all our citizens. In addition to the newly inaugurated policy of providing free undergraduate degrees, he noted his administration has made several beneficial changes to the existing scholarship schemes and policies intended to reduce student debts and burden of high-interest student loans.
Accordingly, the government will ensure that students who receive Presidential Scholarships may study at an institution across the globe and field of study of their choosing. Further, recipients of High Achievers scholarships can study in whichever OECD country they choose, and his administration has facilitated study opportunities in 36 additional countries, which were not optioned before this year.
The ceremony was held at Dharubaaruge and in addition to delivering remarks, the President also handed out trophies and letters of remembrance to students who had won 1st prizes or had performed to an exceptional international standard in specific fields. Of the 195 students who won top world prizes, 10 were from the Maldives. Furthermore, 34 of our students were in the top 10.
The Government congratulates all high-achievers on their outstanding academic merit and wishes them all success in their future endeavours.
