Week 7: Student Demographics

Hi all

This week I am going to identify and analyze the students demographic in our country and its impact on Villa College. Disappointingly, there are not studies accessible to evidence my analysis, therefore, graphics are limited. However, with my experience and the websites available I will try my best to describe the trend in student demographics in Maldives and its impact on Villa College.

Similar to all the other countries there is a huge increase in the student's demographics in the Maldives. In the early days (40 years back), majority of the populations was given an average of 4.7 years of school education (Ministry of Education, 2014). In Male' (capital city), there were few schools with experienced teachers. In the Islands, the seniors taught how to read and write basic Math, English, Dhivehi (mother tongue) and Arabic.  Very few elite students had the opportunity to complete grade 10 and also from these students a handful were able to access tertiary education from overseas. By then there was no tertiary education institution in Maldives. 

However, today the trend has changed.  Education is provided free for all students from grade 1-10 (Ministry of Education, 2014). Hence, students are receiving education for an average of 10 years. Grade 11 and 12 is open for the students who pass for Cambridge Ordinary Level exams (Ministry of Education, 2014). Some of the students, who do not access to free education of 11-12 due to competitive grades, go to private schools or colleges to acquire further education. Hence, within the past 10 years student's demographics have severely increased due to vast opportunities for studies and also due to challenges in the employment market (Ministry of Education, 2014; Villa College, 2014; & Maldives National University, 2014). In addition, varieties of higher education institution are established and a range of courses are being implemented (Ministry of Education, 2014). Today, the opportunity to study up to doctorate level is open in few areas (Maldives National University, 2014). Moreover, government scholarships and loan schemes are established at least once a year to cater for the financial constraints of the students in achieving their degrees (Department of Higher Education, 2014).

With the increase in student demographics in Maldives, Villa College is attempting to cater for the unforeseen boost of student's enrollment.. Each and every year new courses, faculties, center and campuses are drastically being established by the Villa College (Villa College, 2014). Moreover, Villa College is not only focusing on the capital city of Maldives but rather covering the large atolls of the country. In addition to this, internationally affiliated courses are being introduced by the college to take the advantage of the increase in student's demographics (Villa College, 2014). Therefore, the fast growth of the college depicts the thriving coverage of student's enrollment in the future.

References

Department of Higher Education. (2014). Students Loan Scheme. Retrieved on May 1, 2014 from http://www.dhe.gov.mv/?p=290

Ministry of Education. (2014). Retrieved on May 1, 2014 from http://www.moe.gov.mv/

Maldives National University. (2014). Faculties and Centers. Retrieved on May 1, 2014 from http://www.mnu.edu.mv/index.php/faculties-centres

Maldives National University. (2014). Programs and Courses. Retrieved on May 1, 2014 from http://www.mnu.edu.mv/index.php/programs-and-courses

Villa College. (2014). College Campuses. Retrieved on May 1, 2014 from http://www.villacollege.edu.mv/index.php/campuses

Villa College. (2014). Faculties and Centers. Retrieved on May 1, 2014 from http://www.villacollege.edu.mv/index.php/faculties-centres