The government has decided to introduce multigrade teaching at 44 schools that are low in number of students.

The Education Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that this method of teaching was introduced in order to efficiently employ qualified teachers, supply of which is low in the outer lying islands.

The Ministry further said that this method has been tested on in various public schools since 2015, and that most schools have been supplied with the required equipment.

The statement further said that hiring a number of teachers to for separate grades at schools that a low in their number of students is not economically feasible.