Ministry of Education has said an additional 233 expatriate teachers are required before the academic year commences in 2020.
While 1, 890 expatriate teachers served in school in Maldives in 2019, their contracts have expired and these positions have been announced for local teachers. The existing expat teachers would only be offered a new contract only if local teachers are unavailable. The ministry further said an additional 142 Quran teachers are also required, although it currently employs a total of 360 Quran teachers across the country.
Minister of Education Dr. Aishath Ali said the ministry has always sought to recruit quality teachers in its bid to provide a quality education. She said the efforts to further improve the service is ongoing and the recruitment of additional teachers required is also underway.
Ministry of Education said it very challenging to find locals to teach primary grades and ministry recruited expatriate teachers in early 2019 to address the shortage. The ministry has also proposed to increase salaries of teachers in the newly proposed pay structure to the National Pay Commission. According to Education Minister Aishath Ali, the salaries of teachers are expected to be increased early next year.