Male’, Maldives– Maldives Police Service (MPS) has begun their investigation into the Asian Academy of Aeronautics (AAA) flying school in Gan, Addu City after the school continued to maintain a mandatory rule stating that course fee payment are only accepted in USD for all students.
The commencement of the investigation, which was submitted to Police by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) was confirmed by a Police official to local news outlet “AdduLive”.
MoHE submitted AAA’s case to both the MPS and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) last Monday as the school demands that students pay their fees in US Dollars, which is a violation of current monetary regulations.
A MoHE official previously said that they received affirmation from the police that this matter would be investigated thoroughly .
Students at The Asian Academy of Aeronautics (AAA), the Flying school in Gan, Addu City have had their flights come to a standstill as the school continues to accept course fees in USD only.
The AAA student union has said previously that Bank of Maldives (BML) had informed the school’s management that the bank would not be issuing USD for AAA invoices. The students union added that they requested the school to allow students to pay in MVR.
However, the students union says that the school has not replied to their email requesting this, and that some instructors have made verbal remarks indicating that fees cannot be accepted in MVR, and that even if fees are to be accepted in MVR, it will be at the high rate of 19.40 per dollar which is closer to current Maldivian black market USD rates than bank rates.
The union added that the school had no issue with fee payments in MVR just a while back, but have now made it mandatory for course fee’s to be paid in USD.
The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Maldives Aishath Nahula has previously vowed to take action against Academy after 15 students were terminated with apparent malicious intent.
