The Maldives Supreme Court has decided to accept the appeal of the interim injunction by the High Court ordering to delay the implementation of the “E-learning Guideline” that restricts online teaching courses.
Former parliament MP Ibrahim Ismail (Ibra) led Malé High Private Limited filed a lawsuit claiming that the Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) had created a guideline that contradicts the rights granted by the Constitution to government authorities to create regulations. The company further alleged that the guideline was designed to infringe on the rights of the company.
The interim injunction was issued in August 2022 for the lawsuit filed by Malé High Private Limited, which operates Mandhu College. The injunction prohibited any interference with the online courses and student enrollments provided by Mandhu College through its virtual campus.
In it's lawsuit, Mandhu College claimed that they would not be able to enrol students for teacher training courses if the guideline was not revoked, as MQA had previously acknowledged the virtual learning provided by the college was equivalent to face-to-face classes and had extended permission for them to conduct their virtual courses via a written letter.
The college also stated that it had developed its virtual learning experience based on the written permission previously granted by the MQA, and that any intervention on this would abruptly halt its courses.
However, MQA CEO Abdul Hannan Waheed said that the letter was later rescinded, and that teaching courses were omitted from online teaching after discussions with the Ministry of Education. The only approved online teaching program by the ministry is the Masters Degree courses in Teaching, Hannan added.
Citing the previous letter void, MQA has decided to appeal the injunction to Supreme Court.
The Maldives Education Act stipulates that only individuals who hold a valid a Teachers License issued by the Ministry of Education are eligible to teach in schools.The Ministry is currently working on formulating and gazetting a regulation by 2028, which would grant a Teachers License only to those who have completed a four-year teaching degree in a relevant field through a face-to-face or in-person program.
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