Islamic University of Maldives (IUM) has announced a 20 percent tuition fee reduction for the year.

The university said that the decision was made to provide ease for the students, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

IUM’s Vice Chancellor Dr. Saudhulla Ali revealed this on Sunday, noting that the university’s council made the decision as a number of students have been impacted financially due to the crisis. He said that all students have been informed of the 20 percent fee reduction.

Noting that preparations were underway to resume online classes, Dr. Saudhulla said that they have sought assistance from local telecommunications providers Dhiraagu and Ooredoo Maldives. As such, the service providers have agreed to provide free 5GB data to IUM students, adding students with broadband services at home will have free access to Moodle, the open source learning platform.

IUM had conducted online classes prior to the capital’s lockdown on April 15.

While these classes are to resume on May 28, the vice chancellor highlighted that there are special plans for the online courses. As per this, the year’s first semester will end in July.