Minister of Education, Dr. Ismail Shafeeu, announced last night that efforts are underway to increase the time allocated for teaching Dhivehi, Islam, and Mathematics in schools.
Honoring the prize-giving ceremony of Aminiya School, Minister Ismail stated that work has commenced to review and reorder how the components of the curriculum are structured.
The Minister stated that the curriculum currently used for teaching in schools has been implemented since 2015, and no changes have been brought to it so far.
However, reflecting on modern changes and the shifts observed in students' results up to now, the curriculum components must be reviewed, the Minister said.
"Even when the new curriculum rolled out in 2015 and reached this point, adequate changes have not been made. Considering the changes over time and looking at the results obtained during the period since the curriculum started in 2015 up until this school concluded in 2025/2026, we are currently making revisions," he said.
According to the Minister, in addition to Dhivehi and Islam, the time spent learning Mathematics and various languages will also be increased.
"More time than now to study Dhivehi. More time than now to study Islam. More time than now to study Mathematics. And the Ministry of Education is also working to increase the time students spend learning various languages," Ismail said.
The Minister stated that efforts are being made to bring these changes and commence teaching with them in Key Stage 1 starting from the upcoming academic year.
"I hope that these changes can be rolled out to Key Stage One for these three grades, Grades 1, 2, and 3, next year."
At last night's ceremony, the Minister stated that the world has become highly interconnected with technology, and therefore, educational experts say that going to school solely for the purpose of seeking information might become obsolete. However, the Minister noted that this does not mean schools will lose their utility.
The Minister stated that information spread through social media, AI, and the internet will become tools that shape the mindset, thoughts, and opinions of future generations, meaning parents need to be more vigilant than ever in raising and caring for their children.
Minister Ismail stated that the home is a child's first school, and children learn important traits such as respecting others and patience from the home environment. For that reason, the support provided to children within the home environment needs to be increased, the Minister said.
He stated that if parents require assistance, efforts must be made to provide that help through support staff. Highlighting that this mechanism needs to be further strengthened, the Minister also requested parents to cooperate with teachers in upbringing students.
However, the Minister stated it is a matter of regret that, quite often, when parents are informed that a student needs assistance, the parent of the child who needs the help the most is unable to attend. The Education Minister requested parents to rectify such matters.
