Education Minister Dr. Aishath Ali has revealed that there are about 634 untrained relief teachers in primary schools in the Maldives.

The Miniser's statement came in response to a question posed by a journalist about the decision to recruit foreign teachers to primary grades.

Speaking during a press conference held by the Education Ministry at the President's Office, Minister Aishath Ali highlighted that the government wishes to employ local teachers to teach local students. However, she stressed on the importance of employing trained teachers even when Maldivians are unavailable.

The Minister added that while the primary grades are the building blocks to a good education, a teacher coming in to teach at a time when trained teachers are unavailable may cause students to be bored of education in general.

She added that the decision to hire foreign teachers was taken after discussions that were carried out after identifying these issues and noting that trained teachers were essential to be recruited. The decision was in an attempt to cater for the current demand.

The Minister also revealed that the current plan of the Ministry was to introduce teachers to the field after quality face-to-face trainings. She added that students need to be left under the care of trained professionals until this could be completed.

As such, a special priority will be given to recruit trained professional teachers when recruiting foreign teachers. According to the Ministers, teachers will be recruited from countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Phillipines.

The Minister asserted the importance of a good primary education as students progress into their secondary education. The presence of untrained teachers in primary grades hinder this, and the best solution for the issue at hand is to hire foreign trained professionals while local teachers undergo training.