Speaking at the Consultation Workshop on Future Higher Education in the Maldives, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed said the future of higher education was linked with the future of shaping our democracy.
“I don’t believe that we can have a thriving democracy without a free and high quality education system”, he said.
Vice President Dr Waheed said we need to stimulate new ideas in an intellectually free environment if we are going to strengthen and consolidate a liberal democracy.
He said higher education system will build and thrive on what happens at lower levels. And therefore, he said, it was necessary that the education system improve the “very weak liberal arts education foundation that we have today”, to create a stimulating intellectual democratic environment.
He said:
“We need to broaden our understanding and our conception of needs of higher education in our country than merely filling vacant jobs”.
The Consultation Workshop on Future Higher Education that was held today was organized by the department of higher education with the assistance of the World Bank.
The main objective of the workshop is to consult with a wide audience of stakeholders in higher education, which would lead to the preparation of a master plan in higher education in the Maldives.
