Maputo, 6 Feb (AIM) – Thirty-nine Mozambican students, who applied for scholarships at the Afro-Brazilian International Integration University (UNILAB) in Brazil, through the Mozambican Scholarship Institute (IBE), claim that the Mozambican state has abandoned them.
According to the students’ representative, Margarida Nipatyhi, cited in Tuesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”, the IBE claims that there is no more funding for scholarships because the Mozambican state had cut the budget by 46 per cent.
The students were divided into two groups, the first of which has been in Brazil since last August. The second should have arrived in Brazil on 7 January – but there was no money to buy their air tickets.
These students feel abandoned and desperate because they had already spent a large amount of money on visas and other documents (including air travel from the provinces to Maputo).
“When we arrived at the IBE, no-one was willing to show their face. The official who met us at the Cultural Centre refused to say a word. We demonstrated in front of the institution. Later, police officers arrived and we explained what was happening. They advised us to go back to our homes, which we did. On Monday, we decided to go to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education”, she said.
“It doesn’t make sense for the state to say, just three days before their scheduled departure. that it no longer has the budget, when the IBE guaranteed that everything was ready, including the tickets. Suddenly the travel was cancelled. We are now missing classes that started on 18 January”, Nipatyhi said.
For her part, the IBE general director, Carla Caomba, claims that students misunderstood the notice because it was made public by the IBE.
“These 39 students were selected by UNILAB. The IBE was only involved in the dissemination of the public notice, and it made them think that it was created by us”, Caomba said.
According to Caomba, as a result of the current economic situation, the IBE is not able to provide scholarships, and it had never promised to pay for travel to Brazil.
The IBE, she said, only asked UNILAB to guarantee the vacancies so that “these Mozambican students could enter the university.”
“Even without any contractual ties, we have asked UNILAB to guarantee accommodation, food and 530 Reais for these students (106 US dollars at the current exchange rate)”, she said, adding that “what worries these students is the money to pay for the air tickets.”
(AIM)
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