Ministry of Education has signed an agreement with Novelty Printers and Publishers Private Limited to provide 84 laptops to support the training of science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) education. The ministry also signed an agreement with Unicity Maldives Private Limited to supply micro emulators for STEM education. The two agreements were signed under the Maldives Atoll Education Development Project (AEDP).
AEDP supports the government in improving the quality of secondary education in subjects of strategic importance for economic development such as the English language, mathematics, science, and skills education. Improved learning outcomes at the secondary education level in these strategic subjects are expected to help more students qualify for higher secondary education.
Additionally, schools will be encouraged to adopt environment-friendly behaviors such as saving energy and reducing waste and support will be provided to 28 schools to expand their information and communications technology (ICT) and STEM equipment while also improving the skills of teachers to address the needs of students with learning challenges. The skills of school principals, management officials, and teachers will also be improved through targeted programmes.
The total financing of AEDP is USD10 million, which is comprised of a USD4.5 million grant and a USD4.5 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional credit window for developing countries, and a contribution of USD1 million of counterpart funds from the Government of the Maldives.