Parliament urged to act to protect confidence in higher education

Galolhu North MP Mohamed Ibrahim has called on parliament to introduce special measures to safeguard the quality and credibility of higher education in Maldives.

In a letter submitted to the parliament’s Committee on Secondary Legislations and addressed to Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla, the MP said the expansion of higher education opportunities including in person and online programmes has created new challenges related to academic quality and integrity.

While noting that online learning has increased access to higher education for students in other islands, MP Mohamed said a number of serious concerns have emerged. These include complaints about the integrity of online examinations, plagiarism, paying third parties to complete coursework, and the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence.

He said there are currently limited mechanisms to detect such practices and warned that the lack of consistent standards has raised concerns over how student performance is assessed and qualifications awarded.

The letter highlighted several broader issues, including:

MP Mohamed also criticized the Maldives Qualifications Authority (MQA) for failing to respond promptly to complaints, saying delays have made it difficult to maintain academic standards in some programmes.

He said strong regulatory action was needed to preserve the value and international credibility of Maldivian qualifications and urged parliament to intervene.

While legislation has already been passed to penalise individuals who produce assignments for payment, MP Mohamed said emerging challenges related to AI-assisted work continue to require attention and regulation.