Govt. cease covering fees of A' Level students in private schools irrespective of results

Education Ministry has changed regulations to require students undertaking A’ Levels in private school to pay fees irrespective of how good their O’ Level results.

The government began covering the fees of students who attained five passes in O’ Levels undertaking their A’ Levels in private schools during former president Mohamed Nasheed’s administration. The regulation remained in force during the succeeding administrations.

As such, many students opted to undertake their A’ Levels at privately owned schools in Male’: Ahmadhiyya International School and Villa International High School.

However, Ahmadhiyya International School reported that the Education Ministry recently informed the government will no longer be covering the fees of A’ Level students it had been paying for.

As such, students undertaking A’ Levels Ahmadhiyya School from now on will be required to pay an admission fee of MVR 1,500 and a monthly tuition fee of MVR 3,500.

The government had already ceased payments for A’ Level students commencing their studies at Villa High School in September intake of last year. The school charges an admission free of MVR 2,500 and a monthly tuition free of MVR 3,900.

With the change, the only school in Male’ area where students can undertake A’ Level free of charge is government-run Centre for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE).

Parents have raised concerns over the sudden change. In this regard, a parent who spoke with Sun said they wish to enroll their children in certain private schools for their A’ Levels as students in these schools are far more well-behaved. The parent added that it was extremely concerning that students have been deprived of the opportunity to study A’ levels at private schools irrespective of how good their results are.

Sun has been unsuccessful in its efforts to obtain a comment from Education Ministry regarding the change. As far as Sun’s investigations show, the change, which will impact the lives of many students, has not been communicated via the Ministry’s website or an announcement to date.

Notably, the change comes after the Ministry recently relaxed admission requirements for students entering grades 11 and 12, aimed at significantly increasing the number of students pursuing A-levels in the country.

Education Minister Dr. Ismail Shafeeu has noted an over 70 percent increase in students who commenced A-levels this year.

Despite significant state expenditure on education, the Minister highlighted a concern regarding low examination pass rates. He stated that the pass percentage for A-level students has decreased from 60 percent to 50 percent. The minister has previously remarked that despite government spending MVR 4 billion, desired educational outcomes are not being achieved.