MVR 695 million (USD 45 million) has been spent in the last five years on the free degree program introduced by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
MVR 695 million (USD 45 million) has been spent in the last five years on the free degree program introduced by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Statistics revealed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development in response to a Right To Information (RTI) request submitted by a member of the public, Afrah Ismail, shows that the government has spent MVR 695 million on the free degree program from 2019 to February 26, 2024.
This amount was spent on a total of 20,337 students.
The government has issued payments to two universities and nine colleges under this scheme.
The biggest amount has been issued to Villa College, which is MVR 172.8 million (USD 11.2 million) for 4522 students.
The second highest is to Maldives National University, which is MVR 138.8 million (USD 9 million) for 4504 students.
MI Colleges received MVR 106.2 million (USD 6.9 million) for 2842 students.
The free degree program allows first time degree seekers to study on Government expenses.
MP for Baarah constituency Ibrahim Shujau alleged today that the program was run as a large scale scam.
Shujau said that the prices of the courses covered under the free degree program had been reduced to 60 percent in return for providing a subsidy. This, he claims, caused financial loss to colleges, leading to some having to be shut down.
Shujau said that one of the ways of ensuring that foreign currency is held in the country is by empowering private colleges. He said that the government places importance on doing so.
Sign In