President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has announced that legal amendments will be submitted during the first session of Parliament to facilitate a home-schooling pathway for children with disabilities, based on assessments of their mental and psychological well-being.
In his Presidential Address, the President highlighted the administration’s efforts regarding infrastructure development in the education sector and the initiatives aimed at providing quality education for children with special needs.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu stated that dedicated classrooms for children with disabilities, along with specialized restrooms designed to ensure privacy and other educational support facilities, will be established. He further assured that all schools currently lacking the necessary teaching and learning equipment, devices, and related resources will see these gaps filled within the current year.
The President also noted that new initiatives will be launched this year to develop subject-specific textbooks for children with special needs and to implement structured programs to assist them in preparing for O-Level examinations in a manner suited to their individual requirements.
Furthermore, the President detailed that the proposed legislative changes would enable a home-schooling pathway governed by specific regulations, following assessments of a child’s level of disability or psychological condition. He also announced that starting next month, civil service employees who are parents or guardians of children with disabilities will be granted the opportunity to work from home.
“My policy is to ensure justice within the education sector. Every Maldivian child is equal in my eyes. No child should be deprived of their rights due to a disability. A special project to implement the Inclusive Education Policy in its broadest sense will commence this year,” President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu stated.
In his speech, the President added that efforts to train teachers specialized in educating children with disabilities would be expanded this year. He also highlighted that a digitalized system for managing educational data would be established to facilitate easier access to information. This system will enable decision-making regarding teaching and learning to be based on accurate, real-time data. To support this, the President confirmed that work to establish digital infrastructure and resources across all Maldivian schools would proceed throughout the year.
Regarding the development of physical infrastructure in schools, 142 classrooms and 56 education support facilities—including 9 multipurpose halls, science labs, staff rooms, and libraries—were completed by the end of last year. Additionally, 16 more classrooms, 7 multipurpose halls, and 250 education support facilities have been finished and brought into use for the current academic year.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu concluded by noting that work is currently underway across the country for an additional 955 classrooms, 78 multipurpose halls, and 2,923 education support facilities.
