Malé, Maldives – Ministry of Higher Education has delayed publicizing the permanent list of students who are eligible and has received the higher education loans.
The Ministry stated that the delays publicising the list is due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as employees are having to work from home. In addition to this, the health of some employees have also caused difficulties in processing the applications and contacting some of the students.
The Ministry previously decided to publicize the list on June 10 which has now been postponed to June 20.
Higher Education Ministry had opened 770 slots for students to receive the loans. This is highest amount of slots provided by the Ministry yet 550 slots were opened for applications last year. Higher Education Minister Dr. Ibrahim Hassan stated that the slots include 471 slots for students currently studying and 299 slots for new students.
The Higher Education Ministry stated that the criteria for receiving the student loan includes favoring students who will have to study fewer years, students who have a higher academic merit score, and poor students who are registered under the people eligible for Fitr Zakat.
The Maldives government spends billions of money every year, to improve the future of students. Public schools and free vouchers along with free degree courses are are available to students. Students who achieve five A grades in Edexcel A level are also eligible for the Presidential Scholarship; the government will cover all the fees for the course chosen by the student, which can be done anywhere in the world.
Recently there has been much public discourse on the merit of student loans and higher education scholarships with some alleging that jobs are not guaranteed upon merit while others state that such opportunities are manipulated through corruption. However, every year thousands of students apply for higher education student loans.
