The President of the Maldives, has met with Maldivian students in UK on 18 July 2007. The meeting held at The High Commission from 11:00am to 12:00noon, and was attended by 21 of our student community members from various cities.

The meeting began with the introduction of all the attendants to the President. The President then expressed his pleasure at being able to meet with the student community and encouraged them to strive for excellence.

The President spoke about the political reforms being carried out in the country highlighting the work carried out on revising the constitution. He also reiterated his commitment to hold the country's first multiparty elections next year.

The Chairperson of MSA (UK), Mohamed Muizzu thanked the President for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with the students. He briefed the President on the activities of MSA (UK) particularly highlighting the GoTeach Project which is currently in progress.

Mohamed Muizzu also went on to explain some of the difficulties being faced by the students as well as in the running of the association. This include the current severe troubles faced by new students in getting the visa from Sri Lanka, and the occasional delays in the receipt of stipend to government sponsored students.

Students made use of the opportunity to find out the views of the President on some of the issues concerning Maldives, and to describe some of the ways they thought the government could assist the students.

Nishwan Abbas and Mohamed Razeem presented particular concerns of the students on President's Scholarship and expressed their desire to see the scholarship scheme being run under a set of more well defined guidelines. Athifa Ibrahim sought information from the president on the work being done in the country to preserve the rights of women.

Ismail Mohamed mentioned some ideas that he thought would help the students make better use of their education in serving the country. Fazeel Najeeb, Ali Haidar and Mohamed Ahmed asked questions about political and various others issues concerning the country.

The President listened to all the concerns and questions of the students and adressed them individually. He assured the members that the government would extend all possible assistance to the Association in the time ahead. He also said that the government was committed to helping students overcome any difficulties while abroad, and that the particular concerns brought before him during the meeting would be reviewed and possible solutions implemented. The President also praised Maldivian Students' Association (UK) for their dedicated efforts over the years to conduct various programmes and activities for the benefit of the student community. Of particular importance to MSA-UK is the President's pledge to support the GoTeach project financially and mention of a possible increase in the financial support given to MSA-UK by the government starting from next year. The President also mentioned that work is being done to reduce the number of days Maldivian students have to spend in Sri Lanka to get Student Visa to a mere one day.

Speaking at the conclusion of the meeting, High Commissioner, Mr. Hassan Sobir mentioned his efforts to keep close ties between the High Commission and the students and thanked the students for their continued support in doing so.