Lessons Learned

STEM Education in the Far-flung and Vulnerable small islands of Maldives. Can the Work of Scientists be beneficially harnessed? 

Lareef Zubair, Ashara Nijamdeen, P. Wickramagamage, Tharani Kailavasan, Tuan Hadgie, Fathima Shakira, Dinaskar Sathiyendra, Chayana Gunatillake, Athawuda (Federation for Environment, Climate and Technology, Kandy, Sri Lanka) and 

Mohamed Shifaz (Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Education Centre, Thinadhoo, Maldives). 

Why STEM education is vital especially in remote locations?

Important transferable skills which can be fostered among children for work of the future are creative problem solving, communication, self-organization, and adaptability (OECD 2017). These soft skills might not fall squarely within any given subject, but the STEM subjects are useful in pushing skills acquisition beyond literacy and numeracy. Students from rural areas were likely delayed in terms of progression through learning (OECD, 2016). 

The Need in the Remote Islands of the Maldives

In the Maldives, there were 338,434 residents in about 212 inhabited islands of the 1192 islands. (National Bureau of Statistics, 2014). The islands span a distance of 800 km North-South with small islands sitting around 26 atolls (Ministry of Planning and National Development, 2007). These islands are small, low-lying and remote from each other as such it is difficult for students and teachers to access resources even within each atoll.

The need for STEM education is urgent due to the extraordinary challenges faced due to climate and other changes.  These challenges include sea-level rise and erosion, ocean warming and coral bleaching, marine biogeochemical change and its impacts on fisheries and the ecosystem, contamination of the groundwater supply due to pollution and salination, and the spread of infectious diseases such as dengue. 

Most students and the teachers are keen to face up to the problems they foresee proactively. The schools are better resourced compared to other schools in the region with teachers drawn locally and regionally and have adequate laboratory facilities and school supplies.

Research in Maldives 

Following an invitation of Maldives Ministry of Environment, The Foundation for Environment Climate and Technology (FECT) has conducted a research program for the last decade with projects on Climate and its impacts on water resources, drought, and hazards. It has also undertaken research on water scarcity, studies on dengue, and contributed to higher education. This program was supported by government and other organizations in the Maldives and the PEER program. The resources from this work can be useful for STEM education.

Challenges and Setting 

We undertook a program to support STEM education for middle and high school students Maldives at a pilot scale. As our partner, the Small Island Research Centre (SIRC) has a research facility in Fares-Maathoda Island, we choose to pilot our work in this equatorial island. In addition, we focused on the Huvadhoo (Primary and Middle) School. We also undertook work at the High School that students who graduate from Maathoda go to – the Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Education Centre (G.Dh.A.Ed.C) in Thinadhoo which neighbours the airport. Our partner, the Maldives National University (MNU) also has a campus on Thinadhoo which facilitates this work. 

The Approach

The approach taken was 

•  engaging with schools and community to understand needs, resources and schedules

•  supplementing available laboratory facilities  

•  Installation of an automatic weather station with automatic download of data

•  preparation of instructions videos on the use of microscopes, water quality equipment 

•  bringing scientists who visit for research to the schools

•  customizing research reports for the students and teachers

•  organizing educational material online and ensuring accessibility 

•  support for conducting workshops and science fairs
• learning lessons for adapting elsewhere 

Difficulties

Obtaining permissions for this work was stymied due to political turbulences but eventually, after elections in October 2018, things stabled. We also had difficulties in the Maathoda school as there were unusual changes in staffing including 3 principals during the project particularly.

The Implementation 

The work programs were undertaken largely as planned (but over twice the planned duration);  exhibitions were conducted; and facilities provided for students and teachers of the Huvadhoo school to visit the SIRC laboratory. For the Thinadhoo school, the support provided was taken up for the extra-curricular activities led by the Nature Club, the Scouts and others who conducted projects. Those students were able to present at an inter school science fair September 2019.

One of our scientists served as a judge for the Inter-School Science Fair. This Fair had the participation of parents, Island and Atoll Council and personnel and from organizations such as MNU, the telecommunication providers, local government officials and teachers from Male. The standard of the exhibitions was quite high. 

Future plans

The sustainability of the programs shall be assessed in the future. A project report is being prepared for use of these resources elsewhere. We are preparing a report to present this work to the Ministry of Education (Zubair et al., 2020).

Lessons

Notwithstanding the remoteness, political turbulences, and other challenges, we have been able to successfully accomplish most of what we planned. Patience was needed, to navigate the institutional and political variability and changes in personnel. The project took two years although we had planned only for a year.  

Sustainable development challenges benefit from a STEM type approach. Places that are vulnerable need such development in an urgent manner. There is no shortage of motivation for STEM education – only that in some schools, the teachers and enrollment are not in place. 

The setting up of the weather station in the islands was valued and helped bring the students into engagement. The Principal and Staff of G.Dh.Ed.C. among the others have regarding this intervention as being useful towards STEM education. 

The use of ICT facility was a boon and the setting up of the IT resources via a portal was valued. There is potential to expand this program by obtaining support of the Ministry of Education after some development. 

This work required resource for travel and staffing which was possible with the small grant awarded by the PEER program. The grant enabled us to draw on the resources of the past projects, the support of networks and well-wishers to make the research accessible for STEM education in two schools and for others to draw on the resources made accessible via stem.climate.mv.

References

• Jauharee A. R. (2014). Local Planning and Climate change. 2014. Wet land ands and conservation and coral reef monitoring for adaptation to climate change. Climate Change Trust Fund. Ministry of Environment and Energy and Local Government Authority. Republic of Maldives.

• Zubair, L., A. Nijamdeen, T. Kailavasan, T. Hadgie, F. Shakira, D. Sathiyendra, C. Gunatillake (FECT), And (H. Zahir, A. Abdulla, S. Sattar (SIRC) and M. Shifaz (Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Education Centre), Harnessing Scientific work addressing Sustainable Development challenges to support STEM education, FECT Project Report, 2020-03.  
• MEE (2017). State of the Environment 2016, Ministry of Environment and Energy.
• Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture., 2019, Atolls of Maldives [Online]. Available at  http://www.atollsofmaldives.gov.mv/ [Accessed February 2020.]
• Mohamed, L. and Waheed, H., 2011. Secondary students’ attitude towards mathematics in a selected school of Maldives. International Journal of humanities and social science, 1(15), pp.277-281.
• Ministry of Environment, Energy and Water, 2007, National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), Republic of Maldives (2007), Maldives.
• National Bureau of Statistics, 2019, Statistical Yearbook of Maldives 2019.  National Bureau of Statistics. Male. 
• National Bureau of Statistics, 2014. Maldives Population and Housing Census, Male:Government of Maldives.

• OECD (2016), Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris.
• OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris.

• Official atlas of the Maldives. (2008), Ministry of Planning and National Development, Maldives.
• FECT, 2018, Proceedings of the Workshop on climate and water resources, Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology, Maldives, 2018.
• Shiuna, M. & Sodiq, A. (2013). Improving education in the Maldives: stakeholder perspectives on the Maldives education. International Journal of Small Economies, 4(1), 23-38.
• UNDP, 2007. Detailed Island Risk Assessment in Maldives (Final report), Male: UNDP.

Acknowledgement

The support of the principal and staff of the Huvadhoo School and Ghaafu Dhaalu Education Centre, Maldives National University and the Small Island Research Centre is gratefully acknowledged. This project was supported by the Program for Enhanced Engagement in Research program of the US National Academy of Sciences.