President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has inaugurated the Honorary Consuls Scholarship Program 2022.

The Scholarship Program was officially inaugurated at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Tuesday afternoon.

In his remarks at the ceremony, President Solih stressed the critical role played by honorary consuls in the delivery of consular services to Maldivians abroad. As such, he highlightedthe services provided by honorary consuls in promoting their economic and cultural interests, and in representing the Maldives and Maldivian values in their respective countries.

Additionally, he went on to stress that quality education is a significant tool for the large youth population in Maldives to live up to their dreams.

President Solih, in his remarks, emphasized the administration’s efforts to improve the education sector and stated that over 12,000 students have enrolled in the undergraduate program through the "Free Education Scheme for Degree Students".

He stated that over 2,000 students have now completed their education.

President Solih stated that the administration is determined to provide more scholarship opportunities under public-private partnerships and provide free higher education opportunities to at least 20,000 students by the end of 2023.

The introduction of the Honorary Consul Scholarship Program was initiated in 2019 in line with President Solih’s pledge to enable equal opportunities for all students who wish to pursue higher education.

The President was joined by Abdulla Shahid, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr Ibrahim Hassan, the Minister of Higher Education, and virtually by the respective consuls and Maldives’ Foreign Service officials.

The program would see the awarding of 44 scholarship opportunities from 2022 to 2023, arranged by seven contributing honorary consuls.