World Bank2014-04-222014-04-222012-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17982Human capital is the central determinant of economic well-being and social advancement in the modern global economy. The key characteristic that distinguishes between advanced economies, middle-income economies and low-income economies is the knowledge content of their economic activities and production processes. Industry, agriculture and especially services have become increasingly knowledge and skill intensive in recent years. Further, the dominance of knowledge and skills is increasing at an accelerating rate. Among advanced economies, for instance, the education levels of their populations is the single most important factor determining their economic performance [Hanushek and Welch (2006), Hanushek and Woessmann (2008)]. Among middle-income and low-income countries, too, economies that have high education attainment enjoy considerable welfare gains [Fasih (2008), Patrinos and Psacharopoulos (2011)]. Human resource development is particularly important for the economic development of small states [Martin and Bray (2011)]. Education also produces a variety of social benefits. These include healthier and better nourished families and children; the creation of the enlightened citizenry needed for a modern liberal democracy; and the promotion of social mobility [OECD (2012)]. This paper offers an overview of the general education system and the current status of access and participation in the Maldives. This is followed by a discussion of the economic and social benefits of investment in education. The paper concludes by discussing options to expand access and participation at education levels where the Maldives lags behind other comparable small island economies.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACADEMIC PERFORMANCEACADEMIC SKILLSACADEMIC SUBJECTSACTIVE LEARNINGADULT LIFEAGE COHORTAPTITUDESARRANGEMENT OF CLASSROOMSBENEFITS OF EDUCATIONBOTH SEXESCHILD HEALTHCHILD MORTALITYCLASS SIZESCOGNITIVE SKILLSCOMMUNITY SCHOOLSCURRICULUMDEMOCRACYDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISEASESDISSEMINATIONECONOMIC PROSPERITYECONOMICS OF EDUCATIONEDUCATED MOTHERSEDUCATED WOMENEDUCATION AGENCIESEDUCATION ATTAINMENTEDUCATION COURSESEDUCATION CYCLEEDUCATION FOR ALLEDUCATION INSTITUTIONSEDUCATION INVESTMENTEDUCATION LEVELEDUCATION OFFICIALSEDUCATION OPPORTUNITIESEDUCATION POLICYEDUCATION SECTOREDUCATION STATISTICSEDUCATION SYSTEMEDUCATION SYSTEMSENROLLMENT FOR BOYSENROLLMENT RATEENROLLMENT RATE FOR GIRLSEXAMEXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIESFAMILY HEALTHFAMILY SIZEFEMALE EDUCATIONFEMALE LABOR FORCEFORMAL EDUCATIONFORMAL SCHOOL CURRICULUMFREE EDUCATIONGENDER PARITYGENERAL EDUCATIONGIRLSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS ENROLLMENTGROSS ENROLLMENT RATEGROSS ENROLLMENT RATESGROSS ENROLLMENT RATIOGROSS NATIONAL INCOMEHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE SERVICESHIGHER EDUCATIONHOUSEHOLD SIZEHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENTIMPACT OF EDUCATIONIMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATIONIMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION QUALITYINFANTINFANT MORTALITYINSTRUCTIONINTERVENTIONSINVESTMENT IN EDUCATIONKINDERGARTENLABOR MARKETLEARNINGLEARNING OUTCOMESLEARNING SKILLSLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLOW ENROLLMENT RATESLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESLOWER SECONDARY EDUCATIONMARITAL STATUSMARRIED WOMENMATERNAL EDUCATIONMATHEMATICSMEDICAL FACILITIESMEDIUM OF INSTRUCTIONMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONMINISTRY OF HEALTHMOBILITYMODERNIZATIONMOTHERMOTHER TONGUENATIONAL ASSESSMENTSNATIONAL UNIVERSITYNATIONALSNEO-NATAL MORTALITYNEONATAL MORTALITYNERNET ENROLLMENTNET ENROLLMENT RATENORMAL SCHOOL CURRICULUMNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUMBER OF SCHOOLSNUMBER OF STUDENTSNUTRITIONOCCUPATIONSPARTICIPATION OF WOMENPARTICIPATION RATESPEDAGOGYPOLICY FORMULATIONPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPRE-SCHOOL EDUCATIONPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY ENROLLMENTPRIMARY ENROLLMENT RATEPRIMARY ENROLLMENT RATESPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOLINGPRIMARY SCHOOLSPRIVATE EDUCATIONPRIVATE SCHOOLSPROBLEM SOLVINGPROBLEM SOLVING SKILLSQUALITY ASSURANCEQUALITY OF EDUCATIONREGIONAL ACTIVITIESREPETITIONRESOURCE CENTRERURAL RESIDENCESCHOLARSHIPSSCHOOL CURRICULUMSCHOOL ENROLLMENTSCHOOL STATISTICSSCHOOL STUDENTSSCHOOL SYSTEMSCHOOL TEACHERSSCHOOLSSCIENCE TEACHERSSECONDARY CERTIFICATESECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTSSECONDARY SCHOOLSSKILLED WORKERSSMALL COUNTRIESSMALL SCHOOLSOCIAL BENEFITSSOCIAL MOBILITYSPORTSSTATE SCHOOLSSTUDENT ASSESSMENTSTUDENT ENROLLMENTSTUDENT-TEACHER RATIOSTUDENT-TEACHER RATIOSTEACHERTEACHER SALARIESTEACHERSTECHNICAL EDUCATIONTERTIARY EDUCATIONTERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEMSUNEDUCATED MOTHERSUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNIVERSAL ENROLLMENTUNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATIONVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONVOCATIONAL SCHOOLVOCATIONAL SKILLSVOCATIONAL TRAININGYOUTH10.1596/17982