Scholarships awarded to 1489 recipients
President underscores the importance of investing on education

President Dr. Mohamed Waheed has underscored the importance of investing in education for the development and progress of the country.

The President made this remark at the ceremony held last night to inaugurate the higher education loan scheme to financially assist students and to award the recipients of the higher education scholarships under the alms fund.

In the ceremony 489 students were granted alms fund scholarships while 1000 students were awarded scholarships through government loan scheme. With a total of 1489 scholarships awarded last night this is the greatest number of scholarships awarded in one ceremony.

The President said that it is saddening only 6 percent are able to afford higher education. He said that efforts should be made to increase this rate to atleast12 or 15 percent.

President Dr Waheed noted that the parents spend a lot for the education of their children. He added that the government aims to financially assist the parents in providing higher education for their children.

Addressing the scholarship recipients, the president said that the financial assistance provided by the government may not cover all the expenses of the students. Therefore, he urged the students to find part time job to earn extra money.

MRF 20 Million from the Alms Fund was allotted to higher education scholarships, both locally and overseas.