The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has received 29 applications for higher education scholarships offered through the Maldives Zakat Fund, both for study within the Maldives and abroad.
The opportunity to apply for the scholarship was opened last April, with the deadline set for 29 May.
According to the Ministry, 29 applications were submitted under the opportunity. Of these, 18 applications were for higher education scholarships while 11 applications were for special scholarships.
The Zakat Fund made available 50 scholarship opportunities for higher education in the Maldives and abroad this year. Of these, 20 opportunities were allocated for study in the Maldives and 30 for study overseas. The international opportunities included study in Malaysia, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and SAARC countries. Seventeen opportunities were specifically opened for study in Malaysia and Brunei.
The Ministry said that 13 of the 30 opportunities for study abroad were special scholarships for higher education. These were open to students applying to institutions in the SAARC countries as well as Al-Azhar University in Egypt, Saudi Arabia’s Medina University, Qassim University, Umm Al-Qura University, Abha University and King Abdulaziz University.
In addition, one opportunity was opened for super-specialisation in the fields of Urology, Urological Surgery, Paediatric Neurology and Neurology.
Furthermore, 10 opportunities were designated for Sharia, Al-Qada, Tafsir, Hadith, Uloom al-Quran, Arabic, Usool al-Deen and Islamic studies to cover expenses not already funded by their respective institutions.