DILI, 15 march 2023 (TATOLI) – The President of Parliamentary Committee G, which deals with Education, Youth, Culture, and Citizenship affairs, António Verdial said that some recipients of merit aid scholarships in Ermera, Ainaro, and Covalima were concerned about a number of documents required, including the bank account to access the scholarship.
He said many of the recipients are not having Identity Cards (Bilhete de Identidade) and other relevant documents for opening their bank account.
“Not having an identity card makes it difficult and impossible for merit aid scholarship recipients to open their bank accounts,” Verdial said.
He said during the monitoring visit, the MPs also identified irregularities committed by school directors: “We detected that some school directors and coordinators replaced the names of best students with others who did not deserve the scholarship. However, this matter is being investigated by teams from the Education Ministry, and Education Department of Ermera Municipality.”
Verdial said besides Ermera, the Education Department of Covalima Municipality also received many complaints from parents related to the attribution of the merit aid scholarship, saying that some students had better grades, but were not chosen for the scholarships.
He said the Director of Education of the Ainaro municipality also made the same complaint, adding that the biggest problem was detected in the final exam grades.
Verdial called on school principals to focus on the grades of students so that those with better grades can have access to merit aid scholarships rigorously and fairly to prevent discrimination among students.
Armindo Maia, the Minister of Education, Youth, and Sports was previously invited to the National Parliament to provide clarification on the attribution of merit-based scholarships.
Related News:https://en.tatoli.tl/2023/01/25/parliament-begins-inspecting-the-implementation-of-merit-based-scholarships/09/
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
