President Mohamed Nasheed, as part of his ongoing tour of Raa Atoll, today attended the silver jubilee celebrations of Angolhitheemu School.
Speaking at the ceremony held at Angolhitheemu School this morning to mark the 25th anniversary and the school’s Prize Day 2010, President Nasheed reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continue to improve schools in the islands and, in general, the standard of education in the country.
Noting that the country was made up of a number of islands with small populations, the President said the government’s policy would not overlook small islands with less people.
He said that he understood why smaller populations were not amenable the many earlier efforts to move from their islands, where they have emotional connections, to larger islands.
Therefore, he said it was necessary for the government to provide educational opportunities in every island.
He said, although the government was obliged to provide equal opportunities for quality education to each child, he said the government had to work within its modest means to fulfil its obligation.
Speaking in Angolhitheemu, the President reiterated the government’s goal to ensure at least 60 percent of students who enter GCE Ordinary Examinations in the country passed minimum 5 subjects.
The President said the Education Ministry was in the process of drawing up a plan to ensure effective use available resources in the islands towards this goal.
He said implementation of this plan would significantly improve the standard of education in small islands such as Angolhitheemu.
At the ceremony, the President distributed awards, prizes and certificates to last year’s high achieving students of the school.
The President arrived in Angolhitheemu yesterday evening.
