The Maldives National University (MNU) has reinforced its commitment to digital skills development and administrative efficiency through an introductory training session on “Canva for Admin Staff,” aimed at equipping employees with practical design skills to create professional, engaging, and consistent communication materials.
The training highlighted the increasing importance of visual communication in modern university administration, where clear and well-designed materials play a vital role in sharing information, promoting institutional activities, and ensuring effective engagement with students, staff, and stakeholders.
A central focus of the programme was familiarising administrative staff with Canva’s user-friendly design platform. Participants were introduced to its interface, ready-made templates, and essential design tools, including features for working with text, images, icons, and shapes. The session explored how these tools can simplify design tasks and support the preparation of professional materials without requiring advanced graphic design expertise.
The training also examined practical applications of Canva in everyday administrative responsibilities, including the creation of posters, invitations, reports, worksheets, and social media graphics. By introducing accessible design techniques, the programme aimed to strengthen staff confidence in producing visually clear and consistent materials for university communication and operational needs.
Another key component of the session was exploring Canva’s design-sharing and collaboration features. These tools were introduced to support teamwork, improve coordination, and enable colleagues to contribute to the development of communication materials across university sections.
Beyond technical skills, the initiative emphasised the importance of efficient resource preparation and consistent visual communication in strengthening institutional service delivery. By reducing the complexity of routine design tasks, digital tools such as Canva can help administrative personnel manage their responsibilities more effectively while maintaining professional communication standards.
The programme also underscored the role of continuous professional development in building a digitally competent workforce. Strengthening practical design and communication skills can contribute to more organised workflows, clearer information sharing, and improved responsiveness across MNU’s administrative services.
Aligned with priorities of quality education, digital literacy, lifelong learning, decent work, technological innovation, professional capacity development, and institutional efficiency, the training reflects MNU’s continued efforts to equip administrative staff with relevant digital competencies and promote a more creative, collaborative, and future-ready university workplace.
