Supreme Court has upheld the High Court ruling to delay the implementation of the guidelines set by Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) instructing discontinuation of the online conduction of teaching courses.
In a guideline set by MQA last year, courses in certain fields can no longer be taught through online mediums. Male' High Pvt Ltd, which operates Mandhu College, submitted a case to the High Court asking for the removal of this article from the MQA guidelines.
High Court ruled in the case that the implementation of said article which prohibits online conduction of teaching courses be postponed until the case is concluded in court.
The State appealed this ruling at the Supreme Court, which ruled on Wednesday that if the temporary order to delay implementation is not observed, it could deny the opportunity for students who wish to seek higher education online, as well as pose irredeemable loss to Mandhu College. The court held that the order must be upheld in the interests of those seeking to study as it involves the rights of a large number of students.
The ruling said that while the irredeemable loss that failure to issue a temporary order would cause to Mandhu College cannot be evaluated, the State had not provided sufficient information on what loss, if any, would be caused to them through such an order. Hence, the court decided to uphold the ruling of the High Court to postpone implementation of a halt to online courses until the case reaches a resolution.
The Supreme Court bench was presided over by Judge Ali Rasheed, with Judges HusnuSuood and Aisha Shujoon Mohamed also on the bench.
The MQA guidelines released in August 2022 instruct a cessation of online teaching in courses related to teaching, doctors, dentistry, health sciences, nursing, technical and vocational education in the fields of Quran and related studies, engineering and architecture.
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