The Government has sent a bill to parliament to amend the law to enable Colleges to apply for University status after 15 years of educational service.

The first debate on the bill was held in Parliament on Wednesday.

As a condition for registration as a University, the law now stipulates that the institute must have been functioning as a College for 20 years.

However, the bill, which seeks to amend the Higher Education and Training Act, to reduce the period to 15 years.

The bill also provides for seven additional conditions that a College has to meet while seeking to convert it into a university.

These include the Maldives national qualification framework to run its own or foreign programs in three areas, including at least 1,000 students studying in level six to higher courses, participating in an international university rating or ranking, and being rated or ranked by a university. to be a college with at least five years of experience.

The criteria include that at least 10 percent of the academic staff in academic programmes should have a PhD and that the college should have adequate facilities to run a university that meets the standards set by the Ministry.