Students take to President’s Office over “pocket money” funding concerns
02 Mar 2011, 10:45 PM
Neil Merrett
Hundreds of students gathered today outside the President’s Office to call for the reestablishment of a “pocket money” grant scheme and have vowed to continue strikes and protests if their aims for free funding are not met.
After sending a petition to President Mohamed Nasheed last Thursday (24 February) over concerns about the end of the pocket money programme for pupils who enrolled in Maldivian higher education institutions during 2010, a large number of students took to the streets today to try and guarantee a monthly grant for their studies.
In light of the protests, prominent education officials in the country have claimed that the pocket money system had been phased out for pupil enrollments in 2010 as part of plans establish a new student loans system.
Some higher education figures claim that the loan, which would be required to be paid back unlike the pocket money, would be more widely available, yet they accepted that a system of means tested benefits and scholarships may be required for protecting the most financially vulnerable and brightest students respectively.
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