Ministry of Higher Education has formed a new policy which details actions to be taken against individuals who do not serve required bonds and those who reject higher education opportunities.
The policy includes measures to disqualify candidates from further opportunities and request repayment of full cost of scholarships. The policy aims to urge all students selected for scholarships to make best use of the given opportunities, in addition to mitigate the loss to other students and the state following the rejection of opportunities.
The policy requires students to repay all expenses made by the state or under bilateral assistance once an offer is rejected. The policy also includes further measures that can be taken against such individuals.
As per the policy, if students do not return back to Maldives after full course of study, they will be disqualified from further opportunities for two years, while they will also be disqualified from partial opportunities for one year. According to the policy, If the offer is a discounted fee offer, the disqualified period is 6 months, while a 3 month disqualification period is indicated for loan opportunities.
If the students quit the course after the state or funding party bears any expenses, the students are disqualified for a period of 2 years for full scholarships, 1 year for partial scholarships, 6 months for discounted course fee offers and 3 months on loan opportunities. The same penalties apply if students leave the opportunity 48 hours after selection, or if the chance for another nomination is lost. However, if students quit courses following an acceptable reason, no penalty will apply. The higher education ministry will consider if the reasons are valid based on documents submitted by the student.