Audit finds MVR 19 million spent on 790 students who dropped out of free degree scheme
Around 20,000 applications were submitted during the period, of which 16,388, or 85 per cent, were approved for the scheme.
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The state spent MVR 19 million on 790 students who later discontinued their studies under the government’s free degree scheme, without taking steps to recover the money, according to a performance audit released by the Auditor General’s Office.
The scheme was introduced in February 2019 under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration as part of a presidential pledge to provide free first-degree education.
The Auditor General’s Office reviewed the implementation of the scheme from its introduction in 2019 until the end of 2024.
According to the audit, the government spent a total of MVR 836 million on the scheme during the six-year period, equivalent to an annual average of about MVR 139 million.
Around 20,000 applications were submitted during the period, of which 16,388, or 85 per cent, were approved for the scheme.
The audit found that 790 students discontinued their courses after the government had spent MVR 19 million on their studies.
“No efforts have been made to recover this money,” the report said.
The audit also found that 271 students who had already obtained a degree were given opportunities under the scheme, despite its purpose of funding first degrees. The government spent MVR 9.37 million on these students.
The Auditor General’s Office attributed some of the problems to weaknesses in monitoring and information-sharing.
The report said adequate arrangements had not been established with educational institutions to monitor whether students selected for the scheme completed their studies, discontinued their programmes, deferred their studies or transferred to another programme.
It also found that there was no centralised system to determine whether applicants had previously obtained a degree.
According to statistics obtained from the Maldives Qualifications Authority and educational institutions, about 11,600 students participated in the scheme between 2019 and 2022.
Of these, 5,833 students, or 50 per cent, had completed their courses.
The report said about 5,800 students were still studying, while information was unavailable for 2,779 students, or 24 per cent of those covered by the data reviewed. As a result, auditors were unable to determine whether those students had completed their programmes.
The audit recommended establishing a system to monitor students throughout their studies and recovering money spent on students who discontinue their courses where applicable.
It also recommended restructuring the scheme to give greater priority to fields where the Maldives has the greatest need for trained professionals. The audit found significant differences between areas where skilled Maldivians were most needed and the fields in which students were enrolling under the scheme.
The Auditor General’s Office further recommended examining ways to prioritise state universities when allocating opportunities under the scheme and making greater use of educational institutions already funded through the state budget.
Another recommendation was to establish a central register to verify that applicants seeking support under the scheme were pursuing their first degree.
The free degree programme was introduced to expand access to higher education by covering tuition fees for eligible Maldivians pursuing their first degree. The audit found that while thousands of students had benefited from the programme, weaknesses in monitoring, eligibility verification and programme management had resulted in expenditure that could have been avoided.
