Parliamentarian Mohamed Mumthaz has submitted a bill to the parliament requiring all educators to register and attain a license to teach in the Maldives.
The purpose of the bill, as per the parliamentarian, is to establish required legal frameworks to ensure right to education and to develop basic practices and principles of the education system that ensures everyone the right to education. Additionally, the bill is also aimed at ensuring the rights and responsibilities of all stakeholders and practices and policies of the public education system.
The bill states that once approved, no individual may work as a teacher in any educational institute in Maldives without due registrations and no educational institute should hire unregistered teachers. However, trainee teachers are exempted from the bill.
The bill defines teachers as tutors, therapists, teachers, leading teachers, supervisors, department heads, head teachers and other technical staff working in such capacities in addition to principals, deputy principals and acting principals. The bill requires all teachers to register at the Teacher’s Registration Council and attain teaching license in six months from the date of the ratification.
In the bill that details all responsibilities of teachers, students aged 4 to 16 are mandated to attend appropriate educational institutions from preschool to secondary as the bill sets compulsory education for the age range.