Minister of Higher Education Dr Ibrahim Hassan has announced plans to provide tuition fees directly to students instead of releasing the funds to the colleges and universities.
Speaking on a programme aired on PSM News, the higher education minister did not specify when the change would be implemented.
Ministry of Higher Education launched a free degree programme for students who wish to complete undergraduate programmes from colleges and universities in Maldives. Currently, the ministry directly deposits tuition fees to colleges and universities.
However, Minister Ibrahim Hassan noted there is a delay in the ministry receiving invoices from the colleges and universities under the current mechanism. Therefore, the minister outlaid the plan to provide tuition fee directly to the students each semester. He said the change would ease the difficulties faced by the ministry as well as the students.
The higher education ministry has revealed more than USD 1.5 million has been spent to provide free undergraduate degree programmes, with more than 5,600 students have taken the opportunity to pursue degrees for free. The ministry further said invoices of 3,800 refund payments of 1,700 students have also been settled so far.
The free degree programme is expected to cost the state a total of more than USD 10 million a year. The programme pays the total course fees of undergraduate students studying at the Maldives National University (MNU) and Islamic University of Maldives (IUM), while 40-60% of the tuition fees of students pursuing undergraduate degree programmes in private institutions are paid for by the government.
The administration has also recently reduced the interest rates of the student loans and increased the payback period to make it more affordable for all students.