A major part of the government’s higher education pledge has now been achieved. Education Minister Dr. Aishath Shiham says. Dr Shiham made the remarks speaking at the event held Thursday night to award letters to the recipients of student loans, facilitated by the government. The Government had pledged to provide higher education to all higher secondary students who pass above C-grade in three modules.
Deputy Education Minister and the Head of Department of Higher Education (DHE) Azleen Ahmed said that they have noticed some of the students were misusing the funds and called on all students to use the funds provided only to acquire higher education.
284 students were awarded loans worth MVR 115 million last night. The loans were provided to acquire higher education in various fields which include MBBS, Post Graduate education, Accounting and pilot training.
Over 3,000 students have been provided higher education opportunities during the past two years under the Government’s Tertiary Student Loan Scheme. Department of Higher Education said, in addition to the loan scheme, the Government offers between 200 and 300 scholarship opportunities every year, which includes Government sponsored scholarships and opportunities received through bilateral aid from other countries.
According to DHE, the biggest demand for higher education comes in the aviation sector. The Government set up a record budget of MVR399 million to fund for higher education. The Government aims to offer a thousand higher education scholarship opportunities every year.