State spent MVR 835.7 million on free degrees, but no records of who graduated

MVR 835 million was spent on the government’s free degree scheme, yet the State does not know how many students completed their studies under the program, an audit report has revealed.

According to the Performance Audit Report of the Government of Maldives Undergraduate Education Scheme, the State spent MVR 835,697,911 on the scheme between 2019 and 2024, an average of MVR 139.3 million per year.

During this period, the government received 19,265 applications. Of these, 85 percent, or 16,388 students, were selected for the scheme. Therefore, 16,388 students participated in the program during the five-year period.

However, the audit found that although the State spent MVR 835.7 million on 16,388 students, no information was maintained to identify which students completed their studies and obtained their first degree. The report further noted that arrangements with learning centres were inadequate to verify whether students completed their studies, deferred, changed programs or institutions, or discontinued their courses.

As a result, MVR 19,091,797 was spent on 790 students who did not complete their programs, and no effort has been made to recover these funds, the audit said.

The report also highlighted that while students were studying under the free degree scheme, overall expenditure on higher education continued to rise. The proportion of programs requiring students to spend more than MVR 60,000 from their own pockets increased from 15 percent to 46 percent.

To address these issues, the Audit Office recommended establishing a system to verify whether students complete their studies after being selected for the scheme, and to track program completion, non-completion, deferral, and transfers. It also advised identifying students who discontinued their studies and recovering funds spent on those who did not complete their programs.