Maldives Polytechnic will introduce courses in eight cultural fields next year, Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Heena Waleed said at its graduation ceremony.
Work on national standards and skills recognition for the fields is nearly done, and recognition exams in traditional jewellery making have been completed. The Maldives National Skills Development Authority helped design the courses.
This year 690 students graduated, up from 441 last year, and 1,132 students are enrolled, 708 of them male and 424 female. The Polytechnic offers 55 programmes, and 42 certificates were awarded through national trade testing in nine fields. Excellence awards went to 39 students across 17 programmes.
The minister pointed to vocational systems in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and Singapore. The government aims to train Maldivians for the jobs available in the country.
