COVID-19: Maldives to commence 'Telekilaas' for Grade 1 through 8

Ministry of Education on Sunday, announced that its 'Telekilaases' for Key Stages One and Two (Grade One through Six) and Secondary Education (Grade Seven through Eight) would be televised within the week.

According to Education Ministry's Deputy Minister Mohamed Ihsaan, the classes will be televised through multiple channels, adding that foundation students will focus on their physical education.

Further, Key Stages One and Two will pay close attention to literacy and numeracy based lessons and will be broadcast on 'Munnaaru TV' from 1600 to 1800 hrs. The Ministry is yet to decide which day the classes would commence.

The government previously began telecasts of its lessons for Grade nine, 10 and 11. Minister of Education Aishath Ali, stated that the classes were aimed at students in preparation for upcoming examinations later this year.

Lessons are being carried out by Public Service Media (PSM)'s 'YES TV', Google Classroom, Youtube, 'TED-Ed' and other mediums. The government is also working towards launching its educational platform 'Filaa'.

The pre-recorded videos are to air from approximately 0800 hrs till 1300 hrs every weekday, after which a live interaction session called 'Subject Forum' will be conducted between students and teachers from 1300hrs till 1400 hrs.

Moreover, the government plans to formulate a special scheme with educators, per subject, in the event educational institutions fail to resume as a result of COVID-19. The Ministry will provide technical assistance in implementing the scheme and utilize special platforms to promote digital education.

Presently, Maldives records 19 confirmed and six active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 13 recoveries. While there are two confirmed cases of Maldivians, no local to local transmissions have been recorded.

The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 1,202,400 people and claimed over 64,700 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 246,600 people have recovered.