Maldives National University (MNU) decided on Wednesday to waive accommodation fees for students housed in university's hostels around the country.
According to university's Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohamed Shareef, all students living in MNU student accommodations located in Male City, Kulhudhuffushi CIty, Hithadhoo in Addu City and Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll, will have their accommodation fees waived for the month of April and May.
A total of 168 students reside in MNU's accommodations across their four student hostels.
The university charges a monthly fee of MVR 500 per student in hostels outside of Male City, while the hostel in Male City charges MVR900 for a shared room and MVR 1200 for single room accommodation.
MNU’s decision shadows concessionary steps taken by the government to ease the economic burden of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
They include subsidies on electricity and water, along with a 6-moth moratorium on the repayment of all BML loans, including government-issued student loans and educational loans.
Further, the government on Tuesday extended the closure of government institutions, schools colleges and universities for another week as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Maldives now has 19 confirmed and six active cases of COVID-19, of which four are Maldivians, with a total of 13 recoveries. Despite the four confirmed cases of Maldivians, no local to local transmissions are recorded.
The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 872, 900 people and claimed over 43,000 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 184, 000 people have recovered.
Sign In