Granting university status to eligible colleges currently being operated in the country would benefit the country economically, said ADK hospital and Villa College today.
The comments were made today during a meeting with the parliament’s National Development and Heritage Committee, where the management of Villa College, which is the oldest college in the country, and ADK hospital, which organises medical training programmes in the country, were in attendance.
In the meeting, Vice Rector of Village College said which started its operations about 18 years ago, Dr. Ali Najeeb said that universities in civilised societies are not changed based on a given period. It is not a good requirement to solely consider when granting colleges with a university status, he said, adding that there are more important considerations to be made.
According to the Higher Education Act, a college can be granted the status of a university after 20 years of continuous operations. However, MP of west Maafannu constituency Ahmed Rifau (Bochey) has proposed an amendment to the law which allows the status change after 15 years of service.
The amendment also says that over a 1,000 students must be enrolled in the college’s programmes which are certified above level seven.
As per other requirements of the bill, the college must also offer at least three programmes certified level seven and level nine in fields such as arts and humanities, engineering and technology, life sciences and medicine as well as natural sciences and social science.
At the meeting Nabeeb raised concerns of whether colleges which offer programmes from one specific area would be able to survive, considering the number of students from the country’s population who would consider going for higher studies.
He took the example of Maldives Islamic University and said that although the institution started of specialised in Islamic studies and law, programmes from all fields are now offered there.
He went onto say that 73 percent of the higher education sector is comprised of private institutions and that he believes 25 percent of that is contributed to by Villa College.
He also pointed out that although the private sector’s contribution for the country’s development is quite significant, Villa College is unable to commence its PhD programmes due to its status as a college. While there is not yet possible for international students to come and study, he said that many local students go abroad for their studies each year.
He further added that with 4,500 students having studied at Villa College under the free degree programme during the past four years, he understands the assistance provided by Villa College to the private sector.
Considering this, if Villa College is certified as a university, the institution would be able to bring in foreign students and reduce the amount of funds that exit the country, which could help the economy as well, he said.
Villa College’s Rector Dr. Ahmed Anwar stressed the the quality of education provided is a more important factor to consider than the duration which the institution has been in operation. He said that if the quality is not maintained, the local colleges would look bad in front of international colleges, which is why lecturers need to be highly qualified as well.
ADK Hospital’s Managing Director Ahmed Afaal said that the hospital has been teaching various programmes and trainings under the School of Health Sciences and later as Shaafia Institute of Health since 2013.
However, there are many challenges in continuing operations, he said.
"Many foreign universities, especially [from] Malaysia, Philippines, the UK - students from these universities join our hospital to complete their technical education required for their programmes. The progress they make through our education system is considered in awarding their degrees," he said.
"However, there is no pathway for us to do this. There is no way for us to do this independently. Just obstacles. Duration or the name. Or some other reason."
Afaal highlighted that ADK hospital has also built a stimulation lab worth about a million dollars to provide world-class health training. However, it is rarely being used because they are unable to conduct courses, he said.
He also pointed out what while ADK has set up ICU's in some hospitals and those units are staffed with employees trained by ADK, they are not allowed to teach Bachelor's and Masters degree level programmes since they are classified as an institute.
As such, he said that while regulations should pave way for progress, Maldives' regulations only pose further challenges.
He went on to say that although they have all the facilities required to set up a 400-bed teaching hospital for medical programmes, they are unable to teach MBBS and nursing despite the hospital being established at such a high cost for over 25 years.
"Why should we make such an investment in Maldives at such a level? Do we have any incentive? Truthfully, there is not," Afaal said with concern.
The entire economy benefits from the conversion of colleges to universities, he said. Therefore, laws and regulations are important to facilitate this.
ADK Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Abdullah Niyaf said the hospital has top doctors, and highlighted that they are also ready for kidney transplant operations and currently perform difficult stroke procedures as well.
Dr. Niyaaf further said that nursing has been taught in Maldives for nearly 50 years but that there is no way for way yet to go beyond the basics of the field. Noting that a brain surgery performed by an experienced general surgeon would differ from a neurosurgeon performing the surgery, he pointed out that services offered by specialised nurses would also be different.
They also pointed out that half of the students who graduate from Maldives National University (MNU)'s nursing school complete their clinical components at ADK, with MBBS students also now starting their clinical components at the hospital as well.
Additionally, Dr. Niyaaf said that emergency medicine specialist Dr. Ahmed Ziyan is also an examiner for MBBS students.
Shaafia Institute's Director Dr. Ziyan said that the status of a college would be granted to them after 10 years, and that alternatively, if level five (diploma level) programmes are taught for five continuous years, then that requirement would be completed.
As such, Ziyan, on behalf of ADK proposed to accept level 6 courses if offered, and to facilitate conducting level seven clinical modules which they have approval to teach.
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