Ministry of Education has revealed that the number of Maldivian teachers has increased in the past five years.
The statistics show that 10,578 teachers are working in 213 government-run schools. These include 1,962 foreign teachers and 8,615 local teachers, out of which 7,873 teachers are full-time employees. The proportion of men working as teachers is lower than that of women, with 7,866 female teachers and 2,712 male teachers.
One of the most significant changes in the education sector in the last five years has been the replacement of foreign teachers with local teachers. From 2014 to 2018, there were 1,356 foreign teachers and 4,078 local teachers working in the country. However, since 2018, the number of foreign workers has been reduced by 1,188 and the number of local teachers has increased by 6,598, which is 2,520 local teachers. The statistics show that an additional 2,704 teachers are needed to completely localise the teaching workforce.
The past five years have seen major changes in the education sector. Notably, the average teacher's salary has increased by 65% to at least USD1,300. The government's efforts to raise the salary of teachers have led to an increase in the number of local teachers in the workforce as well as the return of many Maldivians who left their teaching jobs due to a low income. The education ministry predicted that the number of local teachers will continue to increase due to the improvements in the salary structure.
Furthermore, the government ratified the Education Act and formed the Teachers Registration Board to issue teaching licenses and ensure that teachers working in schools and education centres have the necessary educational and technical skills. In addition, many different training programmes are being conducted to maintain the quality of teachers.