Ministry of Higher Education has revealed over 6,000 students have been provided the opportunity to pursue higher education under the free degree programme launched by the government in 2019.
The free degree programme was launched on February 14, 2019 to implement the policy of increasing educational and training opportunities for Maldivian youth and building human resources across different professional fields. The higher education ministry revealed 6,155 students have been provided the opportunity to pursue higher education under the free degree programme. The ministry stated a total of USD 8.8 million has been spent for the programme.
The free degree 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 programme is expected to cost the state a total of more than USD 10 million per year.
The higher education ministry also revealed statistics of the student loan schemes and scholarship opportunities opened by the government. In this regard, the ministry revealed 763 students were provided loans since last year, worth USD 13.3 million in total. Meanwhile, higher education scholarships were provided for 272 students.
A total of USD 48.7 million was allocated in the State Budget 2020 for higher education loan scheme, scholarships and the free degree programme. This is the highest budget allocation for the higher education sector in the Maldives over the years.