National University students voice discontent following hike in course fees

It has been confirmed to Sun Online that students of the Maldives National University have voiced discontent following a hike in their course fees. They are presently working on a petition in this regard.

A student of the university told Sun Online that they were informed of the fee hike yesterday.

“We were informed of the fee hike when we went to make the payment. Course fees have been almost doubled,” a student said.

Sun Online understands that course fees that used to be between MVR1,100 and MVR1,300 have been increased to exceed MVR2,000. A student told Sun Online that fees for some courses, however, have been lowered.

“The documents we receive when we get placement state that the fees may be increased without prior notice. But it creates serious problems when we find out about the increase when we are at the counter to make the payment. We have not been able to plan ahead, because we didn’t know that the fees changed. Now we’ll have to find a way to obtain more money to pay the fees,” a student who was unable to pay the fee due to the increase, told Sun Online.

Some students believe that the cost of studying at the Maldives National University is higher than that of studying abroad.

“We have to pay rent in Male’ in order to study. We have to take up part-time jobs in order to pay rent and course fees. When we take into account the amount of money we have to spend on rent and course fees, the cost of studying at Maldives National University is much higher than that of studying at a private university abroad. The government needs to find a solution to this problem,” said a student of the National University.

The policy on course fees at the Maldives National University states that "the university is allowed, under the Maldives National University law, to impose course fees under a policy determined by the council in order to cover part of the operational expenses of the university, […] and that it would prioritise offering courses at the lowest fees possible."