The Islamic Minister Mohamed Shaeem Ali Saeed has decided to send Maldivians to countries such as Thailand to train imams.

Speaking at a ceremony held at the Islamic Center today, Shaheem said that arrangements have been made with the Thai ambassador to send imams to Thailand.

"The ministry needs more training for the imams. To go to a higher level academically. They will also be sent to Thailand for training programs," Shaheem said.

A total of nine training programs to refresh imams have been included in the Islamic Ministry's action plan for this year. These include teaching faith and ethics, philosophy and Taqweed of Tajweed, building the ethics of imams, fiqh of worship, hadith and Islamic culture, fiqh sections on prayer, as well as knowledge of the Qur'an.

Minister Shaheem said the main purpose of the programs is to include the imams in mosques as academically competent people and to end the practice of doing only certificate courses. He said that the imams should be made strong personalities with profound knowledge and taught through scholars.

The first round of the program will be launched in Huvadhoo Atoll and 77 imams will participate in the program. The goal is to have all the existing imams in the country complete the program by the end of this year.

In addition, scholarship opportunities will be provided to imams who have completed their degrees and scholarships for their PhDs if they have completed their masters. He said the opportunity would be given to the imams to do their first masters to refresh them and he would also try to bring about a good change in the salaries of the imams.

The chief imam of the Islamic Centre, Sheikh Mohammed Latheef, will be the head of the training for imams. The council on mosques will also start soon, he said.