The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, has slashed the allowances of foreign scholars who are currently stranded in Russia, Morocco, and Algeria, among others, by 12.7%.
Raye24reporters reports that this comes after Nigerian students studying in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, China, Hungary, and other countries on the Federal Government’s scholarship lamented their unpaid stipends for over eight months.
The students are studying under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) Scholarship for education exchange between Nigeria and the partnering countries.
The Federal Scholarship Board is supervising the scholarship under the Federal Ministry of Education.
In a memo signed by the Director of the Federal Scholarship Board, Ndajiwo H.A., on behalf of the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, the Ministry of Education attributed the allowance slash to current economic crises.
According to the memo, the FG slashed monthly allowances from $500 to $220, the graduation allowance from $2500 to $2000, and the PG research allowance from $1,000 to $500, among others.
The total for the payments initially paid was $5,650 per student but will now be $4,370
Part of the memo, dated July 23, 2024, and addressed to the scholars’ association, read, “After due consultations, the Federal Scholarship Board has come up with adjustments in line with budgetary provisions in the payment of BEA scholar’s supplementation allowances for the 2024 academic year,”
“The Scholars’ Association is hereby notified that due to the prevailing economic situation, the payment mandate for the BEA scholars’ allowances will be as per the new adjustment.
“The balances for the years 2023 and 2024 owed to scholars will be paid as soon as the funds are made available.”
