Minister of Higher Education Dr. Ibrahim Hassan has announced scholarship opportunities to train 150 chartered professional accountants in the Maldives. The scholarships aim to train accountants in two categories, which are the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
Higher Education Minister Hassan said the scholarships are fully funded by the ministry. As such, the minister said students will not have to pay the registration fee, annual subscription fee, examination fee, book allowance, or exemption fee. He said the first 50 scholarship opportunities are for the public sector and the other 100 opportunities are for the private sector.
Furthermore, Minister Hassan said the ministry will prioritise providing scholarship opportunities to students who have completed a degree or master's degree. He said students who receive the scholarships will have the opportunity to become chartered accountants at the ACCA skills, professional, management, or certificate level. He also noted the assistance the ministry received from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Maldives (CA Maldives) and said the scholarship opportunities will solve the shortage of professional accountants in the country.
Students who receive the scholarship opportunity will be required to begin their training within three months or have their scholarship revoked. They will also be required to complete the course within two years and those who fail to complete the course will be required to pay back the expenses under the terms set by the ministry. The ministry will also penalise students who discard the scholarship opportunity after being nominated.