High court orders MQA to accept a PhD qualification denied earlier

High Court, in a court order yesterday, has mandated Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) to accept an international PhD course certificate which was earlier recognized then denied by the authority.

Offered by a Sri Lankan college which provides the qualification through a Philippines college, the PhD course was first undertaken after MQA announced in 2016 that the qualification will be nationally accepted. The authority however revoked their decision to accept the qualification from January 2018 onwards, opting to solely recognize certificates of those engaged in the course until that point. Despite this, MQA had refused to validate the certificate submitted for validation in 2021.

The case was then lodged at court by three individuals and the Civil Court ruled last year that an order to mandate acceptance of the certificate cannot be delivered. However, the court decreed at the time that MQA must bear responsibility for all damages caused as a result.

The case was then appealed at the High Court, which ruled that new laws and regulations will not be applicable to past events. The court decreed that MQA cannot deny acceptance of the PhD certificate based on a policy implemented after the education was completed.

Annulling the previous ruling by Civil Court, the unanimous verdict reached by three judges mandated that the MQA accept the PhD qualifications of the three appellants.

The judges bench overseeing the case at High Court constituted of Judge Abdul Maniu Hussain, Judge Hussain Majeedh and Judge Huzaifa Mohamed who presided over the bench.