Maldives Implements Stricter Assessment Criteria for Higher Education

The Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) has introduced reforms to the assessment criteria for courses offered across all colleges and universities in the country. 

These changes, aimed at ensuring academic integrity and improving student capabilities. The updated guidelines require a minimum pass mark of 50 per cent for all programmes from the Maldives National Qualifications Framework (MNQF) Level 1 to Level 9, excluding Masters by Research. Notably, controlled assessments will play a key role in the evaluation process.

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

Under the new regulations:

• Each module must include at least one assessment that evaluates individual student capabilities.
• Exams or equivalent controlled assessments must constitute at least 50 per cent of the total marks for each module. These assessments must be supervised, time-limited, and conducted under strict controls.
• Students are required to pass all controlled assessments contributing to this 50 per cent threshold.

Previously, some institutions allocated as much as 70 per cent or more of module marks to assignments, which are often completed outside controlled environments. This approach has faced criticism due to increasing incidents of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism and misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT.

The new measures aim to curtail such practices by emphasising supervised, individual performance as a core component of student evaluation.