Billabong High EPS International School

The opening of Billabong High EPS International School, the first such school in the island of Male, brings joy to parents, throwing flashbacks to the pioneering days of English education in the 1960s. Expectations are running high that the current initiative will give children a safe atmosphere to develop mentally and physically.

There is a high level of public dissatisfaction with the existing government-dominated school system. With 95% of students who join the system ending up as failures, the public's opinion appears justified. How did we arrive here?

Experts cite three contributory factors for the impasse:

1. Too rapid expansion: The government followed a policy of building schools to pamper voters, disregarding its own capacity to staff and manage them. Gaps in the supply of teachers were filled with temporary teachers –mostly school dropouts.
   
2. Suppressing private initiative: During the past 2 decades nearly all private and community schools were either nationalized or given 'government aid.' The so-called government aid acted like a 'kiss of death'. In return for getting a couple of free teachers, community and private schools were forced to adopt the government's ineffective strategies and inadequate fee structures. This was the policy that killed off the once-prestigious EPS and MES schools.
   
3. Law on Children: The ill-conceived and inappropriately implemented law on the rights of children prevented teachers from disciplining children. As a result school bullies took control of the classes and vitiated the learning atmosphere.
   

Parents hope all this will now become history. They hope the new school will be the beginning of a string of such high quality schools in the country, brining to an end the dangerous atmosphere in the country's schools.

The Billabong High EPS International School established at the former EPS School building, is a joint collaboration between Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd of India and EPS School. According to Principal Hassan Nashid some 600 students have been enrolled in the school, which will operate on a single session basis. The fee structure is very reasonable considering the high amounts parents dish out for private tuition. Preschool fee is US $ 150 per month while students between grade 1 to 9 pay between US $ 200 and US $ 300. The staff includes Canadian, US, UK, Irish and South African nationals in addition to Maldivian teachers.

Giving a Boost to "Maldivian"

By Dhivehi Dhariyeh

Since the controversial demise of Air Maldives the country has been without a national airline in the international market. The issues surrounding the failure of Air Maldives have not had an independent analysis up to today; we need such an audit to learn lessons from the mistakes of the past.

To compensate for the failure of Air Maldives a new domestic airline was launched as Island Aviation. Through a steady growth strategy the company has expanded its fleet and operations successfully. The company currently has a fleet of 5 aircraft of which 4 are Bombardier Dash 8 family, composing of 2 Dash 8 Q300 (50 seat) and 2 Dash 8 Q200 (37 seat) aircrafts.

The company then took the bold step of venturing into the international market with its turboprop fleet much to the amusement of critics and competitors. With its dedication and effort it has overcome the odds and is successfully expanding its international operations including a rebranding of the airline division as Maldivian. The company's executive management and staff should be acknowledged for this progress and growth which was generated on its internal profitability and resources. The company has announced the next step in its growth by the delivery of a Dash 8 400 (75 seat) aircraft around early 2010. This looks to be a sound decision based on the fact that turboprops are more fuel efficient than jets and the Q400 matches the speed of a jet aircraft which used to be the main weakness of turboprops.

In light of the importance of having a suitable national airline the government needs to work out a solution to give a boost to the efforts of Maldivian. As such mainly two points are of importance now first increasing the capital of the company to speed up its expansion and putting in place an independent and capable strategic management body.

To increase the capital of the company the government should increase its share in the company and allocate a percentage of the company for interested private parties to invest in. For example let 4 private parties invest up to 10% share each, thereby giving a total investment of 40% to private parties while government holds 60% of the company. This seems to be the viable option since attracting an established foreign airline to a JV is slim due to the current economic conditions and the previous assessment of the feasibility by Qatar Airways.

With this increased capital the company should step up its expansion plans and look to acquiring an aircraft of greater capacity and range to allow it to serve feasible routes such as Bangkok, Malaysia and Dubai. An ideal aircraft for the purpose would be an Airbus A319 or similar type. Such an aircraft should be acquired in the short term, preferably somewhere in 2010. To aid this, the physical and human resources of the company should also be developed.

The company should also be appointed a professional and independent Board of Directors and ensure compliance with Corporate Governance Code even though it's not a public company. It should also be looked into the viability of bringing in a foreign CEO who's experienced in international airline operations. The government should reduce its dependence on the company's dividend (as with other SOE's) as a primary source of government revenue and let the company reinvestment a greater portion of its profits into its expansion.

[This article was submitted by Dhivehi Dhariyeh, a visitor to this site.]

If all the opposition unites Anni will win

By Mohamed Naahii (Engineering student in Sri Lanka)

If all the opposition unites there is a very high chance Gayoom will not win. Here are the main reasons why I believe Anni (Mohamed Nasheed) would get more support and win.

• It is now expected that the opposition would garner more and more support because Anni has said all the capable opposition leaders such as Hassan Saeed and Gasim Ibrahim would be in his government. This would definitely boost his support because there are people who support Gasim, Hassan and Ibra, who would surely give a thumbs up for Anni as they would like to see their candidates in top posts of the government, eventually benefitting the whole country. We could now imagine a dream team consisting of former Finance Minister Gasim, Dr. Hassan Saeed, Dr. Shaheed, Mr. Ibrahim Ismail, Dr. Musthafa Luthfee, Dr Jameel and other capable opposition leaders if Anni wins. These leaders have high popularity amongst the people.
  

• We can even see Anni's proposal for an MDP led alliance also has come true. Though many have forgotten what happened to the National Unity Alliance, Anni has been campaigning with the label 'an MDP led Alliance' since MDP Primary elections. This would be a factor that would gain him more support. Remember that Maldivians are known to always look at the words of politicians and see how true those words become in the end. This would be a clear indication for them to realize that Anni is living up to his words.
  

• Also Dr. Hassan himself has said he would personally work to gain support for Anni. We shouldn't forget that he has been a very strong influence in the election (obviously winning 17% in the election proves this). Because of this his loyal support and backing to Anni plus Anni's idea of including Dr. Hassan's team in his government is a very tactical formula, which would definitely bring a positive impact on the run off, especially in Addu atoll. Though there maybe people who would change their minds, their numbers would be less than those who would follow Dr. Hassan to support Anni.
  

• There are a so many people who want a change, so many people who want to see another leader. There are plenty of Maldivian people who want this regime to end. They would definitely opt for Anni as he is the only choice and their belief in change would even be strengthened because of the alliance of opposition candidates. Like Waheed has said in his blog post, there will be people who would change their minds because of the uniting of the leaders.
  

• Also ongoing rumors would definitely have an impact on the way of thinking of the people. Technically these rumors – such as two vice presidents of DRP joining opposition – basically would be more advantageous to the opposition than Gayoom. Unless Gayoom clearly proves to the people these rumors are false, it would be an advantage for the opposition.
  

Due to these very important 5 factors that came to my mind after personally doing a small analysis, here is my bet. A bundle of sticks would be stronger than one individual stick. What I am trying to say is that if all the opposition unites at this stage, Anni will definitely win. If not, just forget it. Gayoom is setting a historical record of 35 years of rule in the Maldive Islands.

[Note: This article was submitted by Mohamed Naahii, an Engineering student in Sri Lanka, and so the contents are his intellectual property. This blog will consider for publication articles that are constructive, avoid obscene language and do not needlessly launch personal attacks on individuals or communities. Authors of controversial articles are requested to identify themselves or at least open a line of communication for readers to use.]

This election may not be final

This election may not be final; and I am not just talking about the first round. Even after any possible second and final round is complete and the winner sworn in, it may still not be final. There are reasons to believe what starts on November 11th will only be a transitional period.

A very recent poll conducted by Social Liberal Party revealed that 40% of Maldivians are yet to decide who to vote for. This figure is plausible considering the responses one gets from friends when one asks them if they have decided on a candidate. So for many Maldivians the decision making process is ongoing and may not be complete at the time of going to the polling station in just two days time.

There are many reasons for this. The last few months have been a rollercoaster ride for Maldivians with too much happening in too short a time. Let alone ordinary citizens, even parties and candidates have not been able to keep up with the pace, with many of them still to publicize their full manifestos. So the voters have not had the opportunity to make a full informed decision.

Citizens are still learning and digesting new information about the candidates. Through the magnifying glass of the media they are learning true as well as false details of the character and personal lives of candidates, their beliefs and inclinations. This information is radically changing their images as people see them. They are turning out to be more of human beings, and less of either the saints they claim to be or the sinners they are accused to be.

The election could also reveal that some leaders are not as strong as they are currently perceived to be. Some others could turn out to be more popular than they are thought. This could lead to realignment of forces in the coming months.

It's difficult to foresee how things will finally turn out. But it's unlikely that the next President will last 30 years. In fact he will be lucky if he survives his first term.