Matching Maldives Secondary Education Quality to International Standards
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Chapter one
Introduction
Introduction
This chapter offers a précis of the dissertation. It begins with a depiction of the study’s context and motivation. In the section, the problem of the research is described together with the research objectives. A succinct explanation of the methodological approach used in the research is also given. The section ends with a discussion of the significance of the research and its novelty in the education field, followed by a summary of the organization and structure of the thesis.
Background of the Problem
Secondary school education in the Maldives is perceived as a valuable sub-system within the education sector. High-quality secondary school education is essential for acquiring relevant knowledge abilities, and attitudes. Good and quality education is vital in supporting public health and wellbeing in addition to ecological livelihoods and comprehensive economic development (Barrett et al., 2006). The expansion of higher order affective and cognitive abilities is also critical, as numerous developing nations endeavor to become knowledge markets. A key objective of the recently implemented Sustainable Development Goal for education (Goal Four) is to make sure that by 2030, all children have completed or receiving equitable, free and quality secondary and primary education that can lead to important and valuable learning upshots.
While there have been improvements in enhancing access to primary education in the milieu of the Millennium Development Goals, this has put pressure on the pressing need to increase access to secondary education. Presently, millions of students lack access to quality secondary education with the most affected learners being girls, the disabled, minorities, and those from rural areas. According to a report by the UNESCO, in 2012, the mean enrolment ratio for lower secondary was approximately 50% (46% for girls and 53% for boys) (EFA Global Monitoring Report team, 2015). However, the report mentions that the lucky ones often join secondary schools with very low learning levels including basic numeracy and literacy. Besides, most instructors have low pedagogical and subject knowledge, which contributes to poor outcomes for learners (EFA Global Monitoring Report team, 2015). As a result, improving the professional abilities of teachers to offer quality instruction in challenging delivery settings and restructuring education systems are essential in improving the quality of education for all learners including the most ostracized.
Statement of the Problem
Religious institutions managed the ancient Maldives education system. Religious leaders were responsible for designing the curriculum, establishing learning centers and monitoring and evaluating the learning process. The first formal school was established in Male in 1924. These first formal schools were known as edhuruge and were primarily Quranic schools. According to World Data on Education (2006) and Mohamed and Ahmed (1999), learning content and approaches applied depended on the purpose that the religious leaders desired education to serve. International or regional approaches to education were significantly absent in the Maldives’ education system. Edhuruge were set up only in two other Islands until the 1940s. Efforts to introduce basic primary school called makthab started in the 1940s. However, it was until the 1990s that schools of considerable larger scale were established. These large scale schools called madhrasaa were established under better school curriculum, the number of teachers and enrolment (Dhar, Letchamanan, & Brock, 2017; De et al., 2015).
The success achieved from the 1940s regarding enrollment and quality of education was due to a widespread campaign by the government of Maldives. The government had an objective of ensuring a high number of Maldivian citizens attained formal schooling. The Islanders were passionate in supporting the governments in providing a basic curriculum in reading, writing, and arithmetic. According to De et al. (2015) and the Ministry of Education (1999), the enthusiasm of the people and the government of implementing a quality education system in the Maldives waded away from 1953. This occurred following the death of then president Mohamed Amin Didi who was at the forefront of implementing reforms in the Maldivian education system.
The year 1978 marked the most critical period of education system development in the Maldives. The country’s ruling regime made a decision to achieve the unification of the education system throughout the country. However, between the 1990s to present, most efforts that have been put in place to promote the quality of education system in the Maldives have failed to achieve the required outcomes (Bank, 2015; Akhtar & Arinto, 2010). Both primary and secondary education in the island nation is affected. However, the main impact has been on secondary education, which is neither free nor compulsory in the Maldives compared to primary education, which is free and compulsory.
According to Aturupane and Shojo (2012), improving the quality of secondary school education is vital in empowering the required workforce for various sectors in the Maldives economy. Owing to this importance, secondary school education in the Maldives has increased rapidly due to rising awareness and demand for education. The high demand for education has necessitated the government to establish more schools and learning facilities to increase education access for children in the country. According to a report published by Ministry of Education of the Republic of Maldives (1999), the number of schools in the country rose from about 45 in the year 1950 to 367 in 1996. At the community level, a praiseworthy initiative had been espoused to enrol a large number of disadvantaged learners. While recognizing the improvement in education access, there is still little understanding of the basic traits of quality in secondary school education both locally and (Dhar, Letchamanan, & Brock, 2017; Ministry of Education of the Republic of Maldives, 1999) and countrywide (EFA Global Monitoring Report team, 2015). The dissimilarities in understanding have become a valuable aspect of exploration in the Asian region and similar nations. A large number of studies have been carried out mostly in tertiary education with the intent of creating quality systems (Dhar, Letchamanan, & Brock, 2017; De et al., 2015). On the other hand, research in secondary education for a nation such as the Maldives is highly necessary owing to the importance mentioned above and the issues facing the education sector.
In this dissertation, the researcher critically explores policymakers’ perceptions on understanding and enhancing the quality of secondary school education in the Maldives. In the course of this research, the investigator is interested in a reciprocal quality improvement. This is typified by a situation where the number of schools and student enrollment is dissimilar to student achievement and learning outcomes (see Bank, 2015; Akhtar & Arinto, 2010). As a result, this mutual relationship is leading to a quality gap between the government’s intentions outlined in the Secondary Education Development Program and the actualities that exist in Maldivian secondary schools (Aturupane & Shojo, 2012). Subsequently, this gap has resulted in the belief that most secondary schools are ineffective since most students are believed to complete secondary education with high levels of incompetence.
Research carried by Abdul-Hamid, Mintz, and Saraogi (2017) outlines that a majority of the students complete secondary school without the necessary life skills. The trend hence indicates that the nation focuses on expansion rather than the quality of education (Abdul-Hamid, Mintz, & Saraogi, 2017). Other extant studies outlined that instruction in schools is very poor since most teachers lack motivated and are inadequately trained to meet the demands of the profession (Hanushek, 2011; Aturupane & Shojo, 2012; Abdul-Hamid, Mintz, & Saraogi, 2017). Furthermore, most secondary schools in the country have become undesirable because they do not have the basic facilities required for learning (Bruns, Filmer, & Patrinos, 2011). Moreover, inspection of schools is scanty, and instructors lack comment on their teaching strategies. According to a National Audit report, some schools have not been examined for many years (Ministry of Education, 2010) with the most affected being rural schools. Based on these issues, efforts to develop the quality of secondary education in the Maldives have been slow since these aspects were not given priority (Aturupane & Shojo, 2012) and studies to explore them is still required in the Maldives. If the island nation wants to become a competitive economy and meet the global labor demands, it ought to give precedence to enhancing the quality of secondary education. In this research, strategies to improve the sector are offered as an attempt to bridge the widening quality gap in secondary school education in the Maldives.
Purpose of the Study
Education quality is a critical policy issue in the Maldives. The Island nation attained the 1st generation aim of universal access to education through the rapid increase in school enrolment. Similar to such other nations, the second generation problem entails providing high-quality education. Notably, empirical evidence outlines that the quality of secondary education is low in the Maldives, which necessitates for immediate improvements. Learning outcomes in secondary schools (class six to ten) are moderate, but learning levels are disappointing. According to Bank (2015) and Aturupane and Shojo (2012), learning levels in most secondary schools in the country are substandard. This is typified by low average scores, wide performance disparities, lack of skilled teachers, and under-equipped facilities. Therefore, there is need to conduct a study on the best ways to match the country’s quality of education to international standards. In light of this, the objective of this study is to explore various models and theories that can be used in matching the Maldives’ secondary education quality to international standards.
In meeting the research goals, quality is defined based on how instructors perceive it regarding secondary education. In the explanation, the researcher adopts three viewpoints notably: excellence, transformation, and fitness for the purpose (Barrett et al., 2006). The use of these perspectives emanates from their clear definition of quality. In defining quality, various aspects such as meeting standards, competence, and efficiency have been used. The usage of these phrases is due to the complex nature of quality and the numerous meanings of the term in education, and particularly, secondary school education.
Research Questions
Based on the research background and statement of the problem, the researcher outlined a set of four questions to help in improving the quality of education in the Maldives to international standards. The research questions include:
- Which critical challenges face the Maldivian secondary education sector?
- Which models and theories are adopted in education management and leadership policies on global standards and what is their success rate?
- How can the models and theories be used for education standard improvements?
- What policies could be recommended in the Maldivian secondary education sector in meeting global standards?
Research Objectives
Founded on the research questions, this study aims to accomplish to following objectives;
- To explore the critical challenges that face the Maldivian secondary education sector
- To examine models and theories adopted in education management and leadership policies on global standards and their success rates
- To determine how the models and theories can be used for education standard improvements
- To outline various policies that can be adopted by the Maldivian secondary education sector to meet global standards
Significance of the Study
Education is beneficial for the Maldivian society. It is in light of that this dissertation is carried to explore the pertinent issues affecting the sector and possible solutions to the challenges. Overall, the outcomes of this research are expected to benefit policymakers in secondary schools as well as the Maldivian government. The school management will be in a position to adopt the most appropriate models and theories discussed in this study for ensuring high education standards that can offer long term benefits to learners in the nation. Consistent with Hanushek (2011) and Barrett et al. (2006), the government will be able to formulate effective education policies and ensure implementation of the same for quality education that matches international standards.
Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations
Yates (2004) perceives assumptions as a set of presumed beliefs that are assumed to be true and accepted by researchers. For this research, it is anticipated that the respondents will give truthful, considerate, and comprehensive answers to the study’s questions (Yates, 2004). The other supposition is that the sample size used in this research is representative of the population of instructors and policy makers in the Maldivian education sector.
By contrast, limitations are external conditions that might restrict the study’s scope and influence the research outcomes. For this research, location (Dhidhdhoo) was a limitation to the convenient sample and results may not be generalized to other populations. The location of Dhidhdhoo is homogeneous by nature and findings might not apply to heterogeneous populations. The other limitation is the presence uncooperative and unreliable respondents. However, this will be overcome by making them understand the reasons and importance of the research.
The main delimitation of this study will be the use of 50 respondents from secondary schools located in Dhidhdhoo, the Maldives schools. This is to ensure the researcher does not have a large sample that cannot be managed adequately. Besides, the author is familiar with the area, which explains its preference for the current study.
Conclusion
The first chapter of this dissertation delineates the problem of the study and its context. The chapter depicts the background and statement of the problem, the study’s questions, and implications of the research. The research aim, demarcations, and limitations faced
in the research, as well as definition of terms, is also explained in this section.
Dissertation Structure
This research is organized into five sections, not counting the appendices and references. The first sections of this dissertation offer the background of the research and an overview of the Maldivian secondary education, issues, and challenges faced in conducting this study.
The second chapter outlines the theoretical foundation of the study by providing a review of extant research in educational theories, challenges, and reforms. This section offers a comprehensive discussion of the various challenges facing the Maldivian secondary education sector, models in education management, and education policies relevant to the Maldives.
The subsequent chapter outlines the research methodology, which in this case is mixed methods that combine both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The data collection methods used in this chapter are defined and justified. The chapter ends with a comprehensive description of data analysis techniques and thresholds used.
The fourth chapter outlines the research findings and offers an analysis of the findings. The section also provides numerous strategies for improvements based on the study’s findings while outlining practices that should be avoided to ensure that secondary education in the Maldives matches international standards.
Chapter five gives the conclusions and an illustration of the study’s contributions to the education sector. The study’s limitations, novelty, suggestions for further research are also discussed.
References
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