MECC
Maldives Education and Cultural Centre (MECC)
Maldives Education and Cultural Centre (MECC) is a Government initiative to promulgate educational, cultural and recreational facilities for the Maldivians living in Sri Lanka. MECC is registered at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka and is established as a part of Embassy of Maldives in Sri Lanka. MECC was launched on 19 March 2014. MECC is located at Sosun Villa, a premises owned by the Government of Maldives in Pamankada, Colombo 06.
As thousands of Maldivians are residing in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is considered as the second home for many Maldivian families where the majority of them are students studying in various international schools and colleges where most of the students are accompanied by their parents and guardians. A number of students are also enrolled in private Colleges and Universities for higher education.
By identifying the need gap for Maldivians residing in Sri Lanka, MECC is now conducting Dhivehi, Islam and Quran classes for Maldivian students. Hundreds of students are now enrolled to pre-school classes, grades and special classes. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Maldives, all these subjects are following the national curriculum and from 2014, these students can now sit for the Senior Secondary Certificate examination.
Developing a creative, energetic and productive youth community is a key pledge of the Government. In this way, providing sports and recreational activities to the Maldivian youth living in Sri Lanka is also a top priority of the government.
In this way, MECC has established a Youth Centre equipped with indoor gaming facilities like pool tables, garlando, carom and chess. For the health and fitness enthusiasts, a modern gym and zumba fitness studio is also established. A futsal ground was unveiled on MECC’s first anniversary on 20th March 2015. A good quality audio/visual system has also been installed in the premises. With little commitment from the Government’s budget, these facilities come as donations from well-wishers, who firmly believe that there’s a need for the development of recreational activities of Maldivian youth living in Sri Lanka. All these services are also offered free of charge.
In addition to this, MECC celebrates important days like the Independence Day, National Day, Victory Day, Dhivehi Day and etc. It also provides an opportunity for the Maldivian families and to the entire community to come and socialize with their friends.