Applications open for student loan; more slots for pilot training

Higher Education Ministry has opened applications for student loans.

The opening of loan applications was announced by Higher Education Minister Dr. Ibrahim Hassan in a press conference Wednesday.

Ibrahim said loans will be granted to 720 students to pursue their higher education in Maldives and abroad.

“The same as last year, we are opening 720 opportunities this year with a charge of one percent as administrative fee. Students will know the full loan repayment amount when they take the loan. The figure will not change later,” he said.

Applications must be submitted online.

Ibrahim thanked National Center for Information Technology (NCIT) for their assistance in developing the online portal for applications.

“We are awarding the loan based on the training need requirements we have compiled, and to support the government and state-owned enterprises and the different fields needed to develop human resources,” he said.

Ibrahim said that slots had been increased for fields that had the highest demand last year, including aviation. He said that slots for pilot training courses had been increased from 10 to 60.

The 720 slots this year also includes 55 slots for Bachelor’s-standard MBBS and 20 slots for Master’s-standard post-graduate degree in medicine from abroad.

“We increased opportunities in these fields based on our experience last year, because of the unusually high number of students who applied for loans in these fields,” he said.

Applications deadline is 01:30 pm on March 15.