Housing Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib has said the lack of Maldivian students pursuing engineering is one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s engineering sector.

In a video released by the Housing Ministry to mark Engineers’ Day, Minister Muththalib said the Maldives National University (MNU) does not have enough students interested in engineering to run its degree programmes at the required scale.

“The problem of students not wanting to pursue engineering, and A-level graduates not wanting to study engineering, is a very big problem in the Maldives. It needs to be solved,” he said.

He said the government should take various measures to address the issue, stressing that increasing the number of Maldivians studying engineering was important for the country’s infrastructure development.

Minister Muththalib encouraged young people considering engineering as a career, saying the field offered strong employment prospects.

“There are difficulties in getting a job if you are in other fields. However, if you study engineering, that difficulty is certainly gone now. It pays well enough and is a very respectable field,” he said.

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu also said yesterday that the government plans to build a state-of-the-art facility to increase the number of trained Maldivian engineers and support research and training in engineering.

In a video message for Engineers’ Day, President Muizzu said the facility would include advanced laboratories where engineers and students could conduct analysis, experiments and research in different fields.

He said the facility would be open to Maldivian students pursuing engineering as well as students from overseas who wish to conduct research and experiments.

The facility is expected to support fields including civil, mechanical, aircraft and aeronautical, robotics, artificial intelligence and digital engineering.

“The government will carry out the technical work and investment required for this. This will be done in a sustainable manner that does not burden the government’s budget,” President Muizzu said.

He said the initiative would encourage more people to pursue engineering and help advance the Maldives’ engineering sector.

President Muizzu holds a degree in civil engineering and introduced Engineers’ Day last year. The first Engineers’ Day was observed yesterday.