Some MVR 537.8 million was paid to private colleges over the past four years to carry out the tuition-free first degrees programme launched by the previous government.
A total of MVR 695 million was spent as of last February since the programme started in 2019, according to a disclosure in response to a request from a person named Ismail Afrah under the right to information law.
Expenditure on free degrees over the last four years:
- Maldives National University - MVR 138.8 million (4,504 students)
- Islamic University of Maldives - MVR 18.5 million (942 students)
- Avid College - MVR 52.7 million (1,307 students)
- Clique College - MVR 11.2 million (341 students)
- Cyryx College - MVR 15.2 million (360 students)
- Maldives Business School - MVR 83.6 million (2,439 students)
- Mandhu College - MVR 7 million (234 students)
- Maps College - MVR 32.5 million (997 students)
- Mianz International College - MVR 106.2 million (2,842 students)
- Villa College - MVR 172.6 million (4,522 students)
- Zikura International College - MVR 56.7 million (1,928 students)
Ismail Afrah shared these statistics on social media after MP Ibrahim Shujau, senior deputy leader of the parliamentary group of the ruling People's National Congress (PNC), criticised the programme at a sitting of Parliament. He characterised the previous government's programme as a "scam."
