Parliament of the Maldives has accepted for consideration the amendment bill proposing to allow colleges that have been in service for over 15 years to register as universities with 39 votes in favour.
Parliamentarian Ibrahim Naseem proposed the Bill on Amendment to the Maldives Higher Education and Training Act, which dictates that colleges that have been in service for over 20 years and international universities that have been in service for 10 years are to be allowed to register as universities in the Maldives. The amendment bill also states that colleges should offer degree and master’s level national certificates in a minimum of three of five fields, which are arts and humanity, engineering and technology, life science and medicine, natural science, and social science. The college applying to register as a university should also have a minimum of 500 enrolled students.
Additionally, the amendment bill states that the college should have experience in collaborating on research with international universities and organisations. Also, 10% of the lecturers should hold a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or higher professional diploma.