Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) CEO Fizana Rasheed has stated that a Sri Lankan tutor has been deported for producing paid assignment work, and yet continues to do so remotely. 

Fizana said that the tutor was deported after the matter was raised with Police. She said that there is no further action that the MQA can take even though the tutor continues to produce paid assignment work remotely. 

It is illegal to produce assignments by other persons, even paid. There have been many advertisements on social media promoting paid assignment services. 

In a press conference held last Thursday, 'Mihaaru' posed a question regarding this. In response, Fizana said that although no means have been found yet to bring those services to a halt, such activity has been significantly curbed now. 

She shared that details of a Sri Lankan national who offered paid assignment services had been shared with Police. The tutor was then deported. Despite this, they continue to advertise the same service on Facebook pages, Whatsapp, Viber and Telegram using their phone number. 

"Police have responded to a case lodged by the ministry last year. The person in question is a Sri Lankan teacher who had been teaching in Maldives at the time. They have now been deported. But his number and Facebook page could not be blocked. We are still at a loss as to how we can stop this. As soon as one page is shut down, another is created. Their number or Facebook page cannot be blocked. There is simply no way to do it," Fizana said. 

"I don't think there is any way to block it because they are not sharing sensitive content or anything like that. So there are a lot of pages now. We are still at a loss for how we can stop this."

Fizana said that paid assessment services have been controlled now with the amendment requiring passes of minimum 50 percent from all courses at higher education institutions. 

Mihaaru News reports that data collected from persons advertising the service indicate that drafting an assignment for pay is generally priced at over MVR 2000 per assignment. 

As per the Higher Education Act, having another person draft an assignment will see the student fined MVR 5000, and the person providing the service fined MVR 10,000. 

Although the Act urges institutions to monitor such activity and take necessary action even beyond fines, it is not known if any such action has been taken against students or persons providing the service to date.