More than 2,000 higher education opportunities will be facilitated before the end of the year: President

President Dr Mohamed Waheed has said that higher education opportunities in the Maldives and abroad will be facilitated for more than 2,000 students before the end of the year.

The president made this remark while speaking at a ceremony held today at the Youth Centre to present documents to students who received loans under the Tertiary loan Scheme.

“Up until now, Maldives has been among the countries that spent least on higher education. Maldives is compared with poor countries in Africa - that’s how less higher education opportunities have been facilitated for Maldivians. But God willing, that’s changing today. Higher education opportunities were facilitated for 1,200 students last year, and more than 2,000 opportunities will be facilitated by the end of this year. This mean greater attention is now being given to higher education in the Maldives than ever before. Higher education was prioritised more than ever before over the past two years,” he said.

He stressed that even more focus should be given to higher education, especially as the number of students who complete secondary and higher secondary school is on the rise, and their grades are also improving.

He said that students should go for higher education after completing secondary or higher secondary school, and pointed out that today, it is not easy to find good employment with just secondary or higher secondary education, and that higher education is necessary to find a good job.

He said that besides finding a job after obtaining higher education, it is also important to work towards creating more jobs and educating others.

At today’s ceremony, documents were presented to 943 students who received loans under the Tertiary Loan Scheme.