Male’, Maldives – The Ministry of Higher Education of Maldives (MOHE)has revealed that it has been decided to take acton against the Asian Academy of Aeronautics (AAA) for failing to remedy the issues within the institution that negatively impact the students.
Detailing, MOHE revealed that the decision was taken based on the findings of the audit conducted by the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority (MCAA) during this October, which showed that AAA had not effectively attempted to remedy the issues the highlighted in the audit conducted in April of 2019 even by October 2020.
“Following discussions with relevant authorities, it has been decided to take action against the Academy as per the regulation on registration and running education facilities.” MOHE said.
Highlighting some of the issues faced by the students of AAA and how the Ministry has decided to address them, MOHE said that as the Academy is registered under the Ministry, students, parents and the Student Union of AAA has filed complaints with the ministry with regards to the issues.
“Since the obstacles faces by the students in completing the educations still persists, the 96 students who are studying under the loan grant scheme of the MOHE will be granted an extension by six months from the conclusion of the course for the repayment of the course, given that the students provide a written document of when the course would finish.” The Ministry said.
In addition to this, the Ministry also notified the Academy to formulate individual education plans for all 96 students studying under the loan scheme of the Ministry as well as all other Maldivian students who are self funded, and to submit all such individual education plans to the Ministry which is to be followed after getting an approval from the Ministry.
Further, the Academy has also been notified that no new students would be allowed to enroll in the Academy until all current students who would be studying as per the individual education plan complete their education, which would also be discussed with other relevant authorities.
AAA was also notified to operate the campus based in Gan, Addu City on 5 days of the week instead of three – which is how the academy has been operating the campus since reopening of the facility since Covid-19 – and to ensure that the scheduling system is fair and transparent as well as to have to the schedules prepared ahead of time so that students are given the best chance at education.
It was also advised that should any aircraft be grounded, it is the responsibility of the Academy to resolve the matter as soon as possible and to ensure that an alternate aircraft is utilized within the set guidelines, without increasing the fee collected from the students as to ensure no disruption in the education of the students.
It was also highlighted that the students were required to pay fees in foreign currency as requested by the Academy, which is in violation of the monetary regulations. Hence it was notified to the Academy that it must come to a stop.
The statement of MOHE concluded by stating that the Ministry is responsible overlooking the tertiary education in the country and that any violation of the rights of students will not be accepted, due to which, AAA has been warned to responsibly ensure the completion of the study program of the students and to uphold the quality of education provided by the Academy.
