The Government will maintain the controversial scholarships of Wert with fixed and variable amounts for the students | Society
The Government will maintain one of the most controversial points of the scholarships approved by the PP: the fixed part received by the students (a minimum of 1,600 euros) and the variable (ranging from 60 to 1,500). This second part provoked a flood of criticism from the educational community for the formula used to calculate that amount, in which they are measured the grades obtained by the students and other factors that have nothing to do with their academic performance, such as the number of students requesting a scholarship each year or the income of all those students, among others. With the reform of Jose Ignacio Wert of 2012 it is estimated that 30,000 students were left without a scholarship and according to the CRUE 483 euros less than the amount.
"We are going to study that the fixed part can be expanded, but there always has to be a variable part for the simple reason that year after year a different number of scholarship recipients come to apply for a scholarship, and the general budgets of the State can not foresee it" , hasMinister of Education Isabel Celaá explained trto preside together with the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Pedro Duque, the meeting of the Scholarship Observatory, an advisory body that was not convened since 2011.
The student associations have criticized the variable part of the scholarships during these years because they consider it "unfair" that the right to aid is linked to academic performance, since in many cases it is the students with fewer resources who are forced to work while they study and that can influence their results. When asked by journalists, Celaá pointed out that "there is no such injustice." The minister explained that the Government will study what weight should have the fixed part and variable and has clarified that among the requirements to apply for a scholarship is approved, the student must have at least a 5. The PP already dropped from 5.5 to 5 the necessary grade to access a scholarship for enrollment in the first year of the degree.
One of the points that will be studied, said Celaá, are the income thresholds set by the scholarships, because "with very similar thresholds, different treatments are being given", and "we must improve it". The minister recalled that in her proposed budget for 2019 of the Government - dependent on getting enough support in Parliament - there is a incorporation of 536 million more for scholarships and another 50 for help programs for textbooks and other school materials. "We hope they will be approved."
