CONVOCATION 2025
Group Photo, MFA Convocation 2025.
6 Feb 2025, STATEMENT BY TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF MALE’ FITNESS ACADEMY, HAMID ABDUL-GHAFOOR
Students, Academy Instructors, Club Trainers, Official from the MNSDA and Assessors. Academy Course Coordinator Aishath Yaadhaa Waheed, also the host of this event, Academy Director Hawwa Zahira and Club Director Aishath Zain Hamid,
Special Guest, Asst. Professor of Practice at Villa College.
Chief Guest Dr. Ahmed Anwar, Rector at Villa College,
We are gathered at the Maldives National University Auditorium to award certificates to 46 graduates of the National Certificate III in Fitness Instruction (Batch 21 to 27, 2023 to 2024).
We are honoured to have representation of the country’s best academics in Rector Dr. Ahmed Anwar and Asst. Professor of Practice Saeed Ahmed from Villa College.
I consider these two gentlemen champions in the complex management and delivery of educational standards. The success of the Villa College is proof of their competency.
Male’ Fitness Academy is presently focused on two primary objectives.
1. Educate and train students on quality standards in the practice of fitness for health.
2. Lobby public and private sector to embrace the MQA standard as a prerequisite for related employment.
Exercise and Sports Science is a relatively new discipline in the Maldives and is widely believed to have gained ground in response to high performance sports, specifically the sport of Bodybuilding.
However, it is the discipline of epidemiology in medicine that proved the health benefits of physical activity in the 1960’s. The current trend is to embrace the psychological aspects of physical health as a state of Wellness! Fitness has taken the dimension of a social and public health activity.
The WHO has since (2000) recognised hypokinetic disease as forms of noncommunicable disease that has reached pandemic levels globally. Obesity and heart disease are examples. The Maldives is no exception.
The “standard” we presently deliver at Male’ Fitness Academy is the National Certificate III in Fitness Instruction, accredited by the MQA and “outsourced” by the MNSDA to their registered course providers such as this Academy.
Our wish is for key employers in the public sector such as the civil service and other independent government and private business organisations consider this standard as a requirement for related jobs.
In this regard, I would like to mention the Police, MNDF, Schools System, National Sports Associations and the tourism industry as sectors of the economy where Exercise & Sports Science already have applications and related jobs.
Students from the ongoing Batch 28 are at this Convocation as guests. This is a full batch of 20 students, mostly working professionals, average age 30, seeking new knowledge and hoping to get into fitness mostly as part time Personal Trainers. The Personal Trainer is a fitness role model, who help other achieve their fitness goals while getting paid at the same time. Time well spent!
We have announced our next batch, Batch 29 to start on 3 May 2025.
Thank you all once again, for gracing this convocation.
