The Education Minister has noted in a Facebook post that the statistics showing over 9000 children in the Maldives not attending school contain issues that need to be corrected.
 
 In his statement, the Minister highlighted that the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics include children aged 2 and 3 years, pointing out that these are not age groups required to attend school under the Education Act.

"It is not appropriate to release statistics implying that about nine thousand students are not attending school by including thousands of young children for whom education is not compulsory," the Minister said.
 
Furthermore, the Minister mentioned that a previous report released by the National Bureau of Statistics identified 229 children as regularly not attending school in 2022. Of these, he noted that 85 were from Male' and 144 from the atolls.
 
The Minister further emphasized that the Education Ministry always identifies students who do not attend school due to various challenges and takes action in collaboration with relevant institutions.
 
Additionally, the Minister stated that efforts are being made to increase the participation of students in higher secondary education after completing Grade 10. In this regard, he mentioned that a pilot program was initiated in 23 schools last year, and this year the program will be implemented in all schools offering A-Level education.
 
 “With the help of Allah, we will work to eliminate the long-standing practice of excluding and marginalizing students from the higher secondary level," the Minister said.