Govt to take legal action on free degree dropouts
In order to encourage students to complete the course, the new policy also provides for a time frame for completion of the course.
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By
Aminath Shifleen
Students pursuing degrees at the government's expense will have to pay back the amount to the government if they leave the course on their own, with legal action to be taken against those who fail to repay the course expenses, according to a new policy.
It is a presidential pledge to allow first-degree students to study at the government's expense. Since 2019, it has been implementing the free degree scheme.
While the new policy on the scheme was notified last week, some have been tweaked. In particular, for the first time, measures have been outlined for instances where the first degree applicant stops the course without a reasonable excuse and does not reimburse the government for the funds that had been paid.
As per the policy:
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If the centre conducting the course declares that the participant has failed, the money will have to be refunded
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Students who attain lower than first degree will have to pay if they drop out of the course before completing the degree
Steps to be taken:
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No higher education and training opportunities announced by the higher education ministry will be allowed participation till the government is paid its due
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Will take judicial action to recover the money
If the course is discontinued, the current deadline for refund of money has also been reduced. If the government spent:
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For repayments less than MVR 25,000, repayment period has been period decreased to 24 months from 30 months
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For repayments between MVR 25,000 and MVR 50,000, repayment period has been period decreased to two years and half (30 months) from 38 months
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For repayments between MVR 50,000 and MVR 99,000, repayment period has been period decreased to three years and six months (42 months) from 53 months
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For repayments between MVR 100,000 and MVR 199,000, repayment period has been period decreased to four years (48 months) from 66 months
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For repayments between MVR 200,000 and 299,000, repayment period has been period decreased to seven years from 105 months
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For repayments between MVR 300,000 and 400,000, repayment period has been period decreased to 10 years from 150 months
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For repayments between MVR 400,000 and 500,000, 12 years to pay back
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For repayments exceeding MVR 500,000, 15 years to pay back
Under the new policy which replaces a previous one, the next major change was to set a time limit for students who started pursuing their degrees to join the scheme. Applicants can apply before a maximum of 18 months have passed since the start.
In case of subsequent submission, the government will release funds for the course for semesters starting from the date of admission to the remaining part of the course as per the policy.
In addition, the duration of the course delay has been reduced.
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Earlier, the course could be deferred or delayed for two years
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However, as per the new policy, the maximum period for a student to delay the course, even on several occasions, has been fixed at 12 months
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This period will be looked into from the date on which the student will start paying
According to the new policy, a student who receives money can change the course and the centre where they are studying only once. The course and centre should be changed under any circumstance with the approval of the ministry. The given circumstances are:
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The amount spent by the government to complete the course has been paid back
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All modules completed in the release program should have received advance payments
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If the course or centre is shifted without the ministry's permission, the release of funds will be stopped
In order to encourage students to complete the course, the new policy also provides for a time frame for completion of the course.
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Completion of the course within 18 months of the date specified in the placement letter
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The completion date will be considered if the course has been delayed in accordance with the policy published in the gazette on November 13, 2019
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If the date of completion in the placement letter has already expired, then the course should be completed within 12 months from the date of publication of the new policy in the Gazette
While there have been reports in some newspapers that the new policy says that students in the course should be full-time students, this has been laid down in the old policy as well.
Under the government's free degree scheme, 15,000 students are studying as at 2022.
