March 29, 2022
Government’s MBBS scholarship
Policy Discriminates Foundation Students
The National Federation Party says it has received many calls from students currently undertaken MBBS program as private students of being denied scholarships and loans announced in the Revised 2021-22 Budget just because they entered the program after doing Foundation studies.
NFP Leader Professor Biman Prasad says while Government has relented under pressure and reversed its unfair decision of stopping MBBS scholarships by offering it to students currently enrolled as private students, the scholarship is conditional.
“Students enrolled as MBBS students and who had a GPA of 3 or more last year are eligible only if they entered the program after completing Year 13 in secondary secondary school”.
“Those MBBS students who attained a minimum GPA of 3 last year but enrolled as MBBs students after completing Foundation studies or Foundation Science do not qualify for either scholarship or student loan”.
“This is totally discriminatory. It is unfair and unjust to offer scholarship to one student and deny it to another who are studying the same program and satisfy all the requirements just because each one of them entered the program through different modes in their final years of secondary school”.
“They were initially denied the $10,000 one-off grant after either their families emptied their pockets to meet tuition fees for the first year or some good Samaritan provided financial help”.
“Now having done the right thing by restoring scholarship status, government is messing this initiative by imposing discriminatory conditions”.
“If government cannot provide them scholarship, the least it can do is allow them to obtain loans from TELS. This would relieve the parents and students of financial burden or being forced to ditch the program just because they cannot afford the very fee for the program”.
“Government must conform to its claim of leaving no one behind and ensure the Prime Minister’s most recent statement that education of our children must not be compromised is not hollow rhetoric”.