Rashida: Teachers and nurses work hardest; they deserve to be the highest-paid

Teachers and nurses work the hardest and the longest hours, and therefore deserve to be the highest-paid, says Rashida Yoosuf, a former minister for women’s affairs and social welfare.

The remarks come after the National Pay Commission decided last week to double the salaries of presidents of women’s development committees.

On Thursday, the Pay Commission decided to raise the salary of presidents of WDCs in cities to MVR 41,000, and islands to MVR 21,000.

The salary hike, which came amid urgent appeals to cut costs in order to weather the storm from Maldives’ massive debt obligations and the economic downturn due to the Middle East war, sparked public backlash.

Following the public backlash, the Pay Commission revised its earlier decision and decided to set the salary of presidents of WDCs in cities to MVR 33,000 instead of MVR 41,000.

In a post on Facebook on Thursday, Rashida criticized the salary hike, stating that it is teachers and nurses who deserve to be the highest paid.

“In this country, it is teachers and nurses who work the longest hours, who work the hardest, and at the same time, the most responsible and oftentimes the most thankless jobs that are directly linked to the very lives of people,” she wrote.

Rashida noted that teachers, especially, are tasked with numerous different responsibilities.

“There shouldn’t be anyone who are better paid than them in this country (except for the heads of the three powers of the state),” she wrote.

“We are witnessing very unjust decisions indeed.”

Presidents of WDCs in cities were previously paid MVR 7,000, and presidents of WDCs in islands received MVR 6,000.

Raising the salaries of members of WDCs was a pledge President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu made during the 2024 parliamentary elections campaign. He promised that if the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) won a majority in the Parliament, he would empower WDCs and double their annual budget.