Maputo, 9 Feb (AIM) – The Mozambican Scholarship Institute (IBE) claims to have solved the problem regarding the thirty-nine students who applied for scholarships at the Afro-Brazilian International Integration University (UNILAB), since their travel to the Brazilian city of Redenção is confirmed for Sunday.
The students in question were protesting the “postponement” of their scholarships to Brazil, after the IBE said that “there is no more funding for scholarships because the Mozambican state had cut the budget by 46 per cent.”
The flights have been funded by the Mozambican public Insurance Company (EMOSE) for 36 students. The three others were able to afford the flight.
During the protest march to the IBE facilities, the students claimed they had been abandoned by the Mozambican state.
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.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education the flight programme ensures that the students arrive in time for the start of the academic year at UNILAB, scheduled for Thursday. However, the ministry reiterates that the 39 students are UNILAB scholarship holders, not IBE scholarship holders.
“The IBE acted as a crucial intermediary in the process, facilitating the obtaining of the necessary funding for the travel”, reads the statement.
“The information regarding speculation that the IBE had left the students adrift, threatening them with losing their scholarships due to delays, does not correspond to reality and diverts attention from the main focus, which is education”, reads the note.
“We reiterate our commitment to working with complete transparency and to maintaining open and constructive communication with all stakeholders”, it says.
The IBE, the document claims, remains dedicated to finding, together with all committed public and private institutions, the best solutions to the country’s educational challenges.
(AIM)
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