Education Ministry: Issues mentioned in UPR not brought to ministry

The Ministry of Education has stated that, while Universal Periodic Review (UPR) released by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) states that 8 percent of students attending secondary schools experienced violence perpetrated by teachers, no such issues have been brought to the ministry’s notice by HRCM.

Mr. Abdullah Nazeer, minister of state for education, at a press conference held regarding the UPR released by HRCM, stated that, the ministry has not been presented with any significant issues by any individual, and HRCM has not approached the ministry to investigate any case of violence inflicted by teachers.

“The report is compiled by UNICEF in 2009 based on data collected by them in 2008 for their internal purposes. The information it contains is outdated. It is a concerning issue to the ministry that the report based on such information will discredit teachers,” Nazeer said.

He said that publishing such stories will disgrace well-wishers, teachers, parents and students and can negatively affect students as well.

“The report states that 8% of students are perturbed and harmed by teachers. Such reports should include accurate information that has been verified. Academic researches need to be conducted. But this report has been prepared without doing any work of this sort and is based on an outdated research report,” he said.

He also pointed out that the report released in 2008 was based on circumstances in Maldives at that time, and given the time lapse, the report should include that such things do not happen anymore.