College Daze

Dean Absy, who is wearing a collar due to a neck injury, is doing his best to prepare for the second year of the journalism diploma program. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to find Maldivians who are willing to teach news writing, video, radio and print journalism for the low pay offered by the Faculty of Arts. So, he's counting on a "foreigner" to come here for most of 2011. This expectation is probably unrealistic. However, my predecessors in the Fulbright specialist program wrote the syllabus for the program and recommended that a qualified teacher be brought in from a foreign country to initiate the practical phase of the curriculum. Understandably, Absy is asking, "When is this guy coming?"
Staffing isn't the only problem. The college has no budget for video, audio or online journalism equipment. At this point the students claim to have one official and one unofficial student newspaper but they weren't able to show me any sample issues. The hope of a student news website or YouTube channel is only a vague dream. In the above picture, Absy is learning how to use a flip camera that I brought from the US, but even if the college were to purchase similar low-cost gear, there are no safeguards in place to make sure it won't be ripped off.
One possible solution would be a partnership with Male's TV and radio stations and print/web outlets, where some of the students are already working. They are required to do internships in the second year and the college could meet with media managers to make sure that the students have an opportunity to do stories that could qualify as college-level assignments. This, however, may also be unrealistic as it would involve some planning and coordination. Unless of course they can "get a foreigner to do it."
I should mention that the US Embassy in Colombo is doing what it can to help. The cultural affairs librarian at the American center is sending civics textbooks for a class that will be taught next year by a Maldivian scholar. Also under consideration is a program for local faculty development so the Maldivians won't be so dependent on foreigners in the future.

Graduation Time

Our final session covered the procedures that will need to be in place for the expected approval of a Right to Information bill in Maldives. Hilmy has just returned from a South Asia summit on freedom of information. While Maldives is ahead of many other countries in the region, they still have a way to go in overcoming what has been called a "feudal" society where island leaders reach their decisions in secret. Many thanks to Debra Gersh Hernandez at ASNE and the folks at the New York Department of State for helping out with the teaching materials.
The Maldives College of Higher Education awarded beautifully printed certificates to the particpants, crediting the US State Department for the funding, and I was proud to sign my name on them as a Fulbright specialist. A representative of the president's office awarded the certificates and then we all crowded on stage for one last picture. I hope this is the beginning of a much longer conversation about the public's right to know in the Maldives.