MALE: The Maldives is part of a network of 30 countries developing a Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC), said State Minister for Education Dr Ahmed Ali Manik. The countries have been developing this project since 2000 with Manik estimating the courses will be available online, free of charge, within the next couple of years.

"Through open educational resources, we will be able to access courses in other small states. It’s a network for higher education," said Manik, who participated in a five-day conference for Commonwealth Education Ministers earlier this month.

He added it was important “especially for small states, [where there are] not too many higher universities.”

The Maldives has no university institution and many students are unable to study abroad because of financial obstacles.

According to Mohmeed Nasihm, deputy director general of communication, every inhabited island in the country has access to internet. Male’ and 12 other main islands have cable broadband, while all the others have dial-up or wi-fi.

Abdullah Rasheed, director general of Telecommunications Authority Maldives, said operators had plans for expanding cable networks to the islands as well.

Manik said that anybody who spoke English could participate, but would need to pass entry qualifications. The countries were now in the process of creating a transnational qualification framework.

However, the English dependency of the courses might close off the opportunity to many students, according to Ranjan Ariyasinghe, head of the chemistry department at Aminiyya School, one of the highest achieving in the country.

Ranjan said that “only students in Male’” would be able to manage the system of the courses, as many students from islands whom he meets cannot write an English sentence in grade 10.

Nevertheless, given the “limited opportunities...this is useful,” he said.

Ahmed Hamdan, 19, a top ten achiever in 2008, whose hopes of going to the university are challenged by the limited number of scholarships in the country, said that this was a great opportunity for those who were interested, but he would prefer to study abroad.

“It would be practical to go abroad and study and see what they are doing and see businesses,” he said.

Hamdan said he was not sure how Maldivian students would receive the virtual university.

“I don’t know how to predict that, but I don’t think that many will like it. Maybe because there is no immediate interaction…It’s a new method of studies,” he said.

“Maldivians may find it difficult because most of the students are not friendly with computers…but it is a good opportunity and we can introduce it for the future.”