State education minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer told Haveeru that Quran would be taught as a compulsory subject for grade 1-7. Nationalism programmes, life skills programmes and civic education have been introduced to the curriculum, he added. "Teachers will also be able to go for higher studies on pay leave," Nazeer said. Official figures show that 61,305 students are admitted in schools across the county. Out of the 9,200 teachers in service for the new academic year, 7,000 are locals, whilst the remaining has been recruited from India and other neighbouring countries.