Dr. Aminath Shiyama is a Quality Assurance Controller and Assistant Professor at The Maldives National University (MNU), where she contributes to higher education quality assurance, teacher education, curriculum development, and educational research. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Bristol, UK, a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction (Science Education) from the University of Kansas, USA, a combined Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) and Bachelor of Education from the University of Western Australia, and a National Diploma in Secondary Teaching from the Maldives.

Her expertise spans teacher professional development, science education, comparative and international education, quality assurance in higher education, environmental and sustainability education, and education in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Dr. Shiyama has led and collaborated on numerous nationally and internationally funded research projects supported by organisations including UNICEF, Erasmus+, Oxford Brookes University, and the Government of the Maldives. She has published extensively in international peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, presented her work at leading international conferences, and has been recognised with prestigious awards, including the Commonwealth Scholarship and the President’s Award for Special Achievement for attaining MQA Level 10 qualification and international research publication.

National Diploma for Secondary Teaching (Chemistry and Mathematics Teaching)
,Institute of Teacher Education, (currently Faculty of Education at The Maldives National University), Male’, Maldives, 2000
Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) and Bachelor of Education, University of University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia 2004
Master of Science in Curriculum & Instruction (Science Education), University of Kansas, Lawrence KS, USA, 2019
Doctor of Philosophy in Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, 2020

primary science education, teacher education, environmental education, ESDGC, SDG4, lifelong learning, quality assurance in higher education, education in SIDs, curriculum development

? Project team member from MNU
Fehi Madharusa Environmental Education
(This project involved developing environmental education teacher training materials and training teachers using these materials for selected schools in the Maldives, funded by UNICEF). Oct – Dec 2022

? Project team member from MNU
Life Skills Based Reproductive Health Education.
(Developing teacher education modules in life skills based reproductive health education. This project is funded by the UNDP) – Nov 2023

? Co-Investigator for
Our World, Our Futures: Children’s global citizenship for sustainability using arts and digital practices in schools in the UK and the Maldives –
Project website – https://ourworldourfutures.org.uk/our-world-our-futures-2023/
This project is funded by Oxford Brookes University, UK
01/08/2022 to 31/122023

? Project team member from MNU
Developing Academic Standards for Civil Engineering Education Programme in the Maldives.
(This project is funded by the Maldives government) – 2023

? Project team member from MNU
Project member for Strategic Support for Accreditation of Programs and Internationalization at South Asian Higher Education Institutes / SSAPI (2021- 2023) is a project funded with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
(This project involved developing environmental education teacher training materials and training teachers using these materials for selected schools in the Maldives) – 2019 to ongoing

? Primary Investigator for
Our Earth, Our Futures: Exploring transformative Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Maldivian and English primary schools.
This project is funded by MNU Research Grant Scheme – (URG-2023-C2-L-03)
Project website – https://www.ourworldourfutures.org.uk/
01/03/2024 to 31/038/2025

? Project team member
Lost in Transitions: Study on Students’ Education Transitions from Lower to Higher Secondary Education and to Higher Education and/or Employment in the Maldives
This project is conducted for MoE and funded by UNICEF
01/11/2024 to 31/05/2025

? Project team member and Quality Assurance Manager
Digital Transformation of Asian Higher Education (DIGITAsia). Project DIGITAsia (1O11788O3) is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
01/02/2025 to ongoing (project duration is 3 years)

Abdulla Jameel – PhD Student at Faculty of Arts (started in 2026)

Asif Abddula – PhD Student at Faculty of Education (started in 2026)

science education, chemistry, comparative education, curriculum development

? Fikuree, W., Shiyama, A., Muna, A., Naseer, B. and Mohamed, Z. (2021). Challenges to education during COVID-19 pandemic: A SIDS perspective with special reference to the situation in the Maldives. The International Education Journal: Comparative perspectives 20 (2), 5-22
? Shiyama (2021) Teacher professional learning in the Maldivian context: Working with congruencies for teacher identity as a socio-cultural identity, PRACTICE, 5 (sup 1), 35-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/25783858.2021.1992255
? Shiyama, A. Abdul Muhaimin, F. N. & Shafeeqa, F. (2023). Our World, Our Futures: Transforming education through environmental and sustainability education. The Maldives National Journal of Research, 11 (Special Issue), 88-106. https://doi.org/10.62338/hyg6h539
? Adam, A.S; Shiyama, A. and Raheem, R.A. (2025). Development and Implementation of Internal Quality Assurance: The experiences of
establishing a Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework in The Maldives National University. Anthology of APQN Academic Conference 2024.
? Shiyama, A. Muna, A, Sprague, T. and Crossley, M. (2025). Large questions faced by education at the sharp end in SIDS. Small States & Territories, 8(1), 78-81.
? Muna, A. and Shiyama, A. (2025). Small Island, Significant Solutions: Educational Resilience in the Maldives During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Small States & Territories, 8(1), 98-98.
? Shafeeqa, F., & Shiyama, A. (2025). Environment and sustainability education in the Maldive Islands. In G. Bufalino (Eds.), Navigating learning, culture, and identity in island education (pp. 83–128). IGI Global.
? Lee, C., Shiyama, A. & Shafeeqa, F. (2026). Our World, Our Futures: A dialogic approach to environmental literacy and global citizenship education in primary schools in the Maldives and England. British Educational Research Journal, 52, 180–204. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.70050
? Didi, M., Shiyama, A., Shafeeqa, F. and Droxler, A (2025). Atoll and Island Formation in the Maldives. The Maldives National University, Maldives.
? Shiyama, A. Muna, A, Crossley, M and Sprague, T. (2026). Reimagining and Sustaining International Partnerships: learning from the Education in Small States Research Group. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2026.2657829

Academic Senate, Committee on Courses, Quality Assurance Committee

National – MQA Certificate Panel

? 4th International Teachers’ Conference
12-13 November 2017, Male’, Maldives
Group Presentation
Presented titled: Implementing Problem-Based-Learning in Primary Science Education in the Maldives

? BAICE Conference 2018
12-14 September 2018 York, UK
Presented titled: Conceptualising Science Process Skills and Environmental Education in Primary Science Education in the Maldives

? SWDTP Conference 2018 – Beyond Research: Society, Collaboration & Impact
14 November 2018 Bristol, UK
Presented titled: Collaborative Teacher Research: Expectations and Realities from the field
? Doctoral Conference of School of Education, University of Bristol 2019
03-04 June,2019 Bristol, UK
Presented titled: A small-island-developing-state (SIDS) lens on teacher professional development and learning

? BERA Conference 2019
20-21 June 2019 University of Worcester, UK
Presented titled: “Tell me what to do and I will do it and show you that in my classroom teaching

? ESERA Conference 2019
26-30 August 2019 Bologna, Italy
Presented titled: Stimulating science teacher growth in the Maldives: An in-depth exploration of the fragility of educational change

? 5th International Teachers’ Conference
04-05th September 2019, Addu City, Maldives
Group Presentation
Presented titled: Teacher professional development that focuses on learning: A case study of one school in the Maldives

? IPDA Conference 2019
29–30 November 2019, Birmingham, UK
Presented titled: A small-island-developing-state lens on teacher professional development and learning
? Bristol Conversations in Education Seminar Series
22 January 2020, Bristol, UK
Presented titled: A small-island-developing-state lens on teacher professional development and learning – Research in Progress

? OCIES Festival of Events 2020
8-11 December 2021, Melbourne, Australia
Group Presentation
Presented titled: Education Challenges with the Covid-19 Pandemic: A SIDS perspective with special reference to the situation in the Maldives

? Theveli 2021
23-24 August 2021, Male’ Maldives
Group Presentation
Presented titled: Education Challenges with the Covid-19 Pandemic.

? Theveli 2022
23-24 August 2022, Male’ Maldives
Individual Presentation
Presented titled: The role of teachers’ socio-cultural identity in their professional development and learning.
Moderator of parallel session and Keynote 2

? 6th International Teachers’ Conference
24-25 December 2022, Kulhudhufushi City, Maldives
Individual Presentation
Presented titled: The place of socio-cultural identity in teacher professional development and learning

? INQAAHE 2023
29 May – 1 June 2023, Astana, Kazakhstan
Poster Presentation on behalf of MNU
Poster titled: Developing a robust internal quality assurance system: Challenges, dilemmas and opportunities in a Small Island Developing State University.

? Theveli 2023
21-22 August 2023, Male’ Maldives
Group Presentation
Presented titled: Our World Our Future.
Moderator of parallel session and Keynote 3

? UKFIET Conference 2023
12-14 September 2023, Oxford, UK
Presented titled: Our World, Our Futures: Exploring transformative environmental and global citizenship education in Maldivian and English primary schools

? Theveli 2024
19-20 August 20224 Male’ Maldives
Group Presentations
Presented titled: A case study in developing Academic Standards for Programme Development and Accreditation: What works and how?
Presented titled: Global Citizenship Education through cross-disciplinary pedagogies and intercultural communication
Presented titled: Development and Implementation of Internal Quality Assurance System in a Small Island State: The case of The Maldives National University
Moderator

? The Korean Conference on Education (KCE2024)
October 28- November 1 Incheon, South Korea
Group Presentation titled: Our World, Our Futures: Transformative education for the future
Moderator

? Theveli 2025
19-20 August 2025, Male’ Maldives
Group Presentations
Presentations from the project: Lost in Transitions: Study on Students’ Education Transitions from Lower to Higher Secondary Education and to Higher Education and/or Employment in the Maldives
Presentations from the project: Lost in Transitions: Study on Students’ Education Transitions from Lower to Higher Secondary Education and to Higher Education and/or Employment in the Maldives
Presented titled: Assessing Sustainability Knowledge among Staff and Students at The Maldives National University: A baseline study
Moderator

? UKFIET Conference 2025
16-18 September 2023, Oxford, UK
Presented titled: Our Earth, Our Futures:
Dialogic pedagogies for sustainability and global citizenship education

? Education in Small States Research Group (ESSRG) – Research Associate.
This affiliation is facilitated by an Honorary Research Associate position at the University of Bristol – Our People
? Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE) – Member

? AusAID scholarship for undergraduate study in University of Western Australia, Western Australia.

? Fulbright Scholarship for postgraduate studies (Masters’ Level) in University of Kansas, USA

? Erasmus Mundus – EXPERTS4Asia programme, funded Staff Development Scholarship in Uppsala University, Sweden.

? Commonwealth Scholarship to the UK, under the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CFSP) awarded for PhD study in University of Bristol, UK.

? President’s Award for Special Achievement in attaining MQA Level 10 qualification and for publication of research in an international journal. – November 11, 2022.

? Project team member from MNU
Developing Academic Standards for Civil Engineering Education Programme in the Maldives.
(This project is funded by the Maldives government) – 2023

? Project team member from MNU
Life Skills Based Reproductive Health Education.
(Developing teacher education modules in life skills based reproductive health education. This project is funded by the UNDP) – Nov 2023