Education Act amendment a 'special burden' says Maldives MP Ziyad

People's Majlis Member Hussein Ziyad of Vaikarandhoo constituency has stated that the proposed amendment to the Education Act is a special burden. Speaking during the Wednesday session of the Majlis, while debating the government's proposed bill amending the Education Act, Member Ziyad said that the part of the bill mentioning that those without financial means cannot access homeschooling is written in Dhivehi. He highlighted that parents of children requiring special assistance have to bear many burdens and said that if the amendment introduced in this bill were stated in general terms, then only the child of a wealthy person could avail themselves of homeschooling. Member Ziyad further noted that the opportunity for homeschooling will be available only to affluent families, and it will become more burdensome for poor parents. He stated that the rights of teachers will diminish, and councils will not receive financial assistance while their responsibilities increase. Regarding sub-clause (c) of Article 13 of this bill, Member Ziyad stated that some rights granted by the Employment Act are diminishing. He pointed out that the current situation is that even if a teacher takes children from an island outside to participate in a competition, the teacher does not receive overtime pay or leave allowance on holidays. Furthermore, Member Ziyad stated that significant responsibilities have been assigned to councils throughout the bill, yet the revenue allocated to these responsibilities is reduced. He said that although the salaries and other benefits of councilors have been increased, there is no change in the grants received by councils, and today councils cannot do anything because of lack of funds. Member Ziyad concluded that with these articles remaining as they are, this bill is not something suitable for passage, and making laws in a manner that makes the poor poorer will yield no good results.