Students’ Maintenance Grants ‘Unreasonable Deadlines’

Students are being asked to confirm and justify their expenses during the lockdown period. It is well known that most students will spend the vast majority of their maintenance grant if not all of it on rental payments. These are often paid in advance or are contractually tied in.

As such any residence in Gibraltar during lockdown may not have affected those payments. It is important that no hardship or anxiety is caused by this process.

The Opposition has written to the Minister for Education calling for a new deadline to be given to students of July 2020 so they can reply with information requested by the Department in respect of their Education related expenses normally met from Scholarships.

They add: "We appreciate that this letter has been sent out to clear up confusion arising from the effect of the COVID emergency on universities but there is no reason for this rush. Additionally if students have stayed in UK during this time at their university accommodation or been incurring expenses towards that during this time that confirmation should suffice and students should not be expected to provide detailed accounts of expenditure, which has never been required in the past.

"This is just an unnecessary distraction for students at a crucial and stressful time in their education."

Edwin Reyes, Opposition Spokesman for Education, has written to the Minister for Education raising this issue and seeking that Government provide further time for students to reply:

“Nearly all students are at present extremely tied down in preparation for their end of year exams and in order not to be distracted from this important exercise I suggest that a revised date of either 1 or 15 July

2020 be set in order for all relevant information to be provided. I would be most grateful for your urgent consideration of the above and hope this is met favourably in order to relieve students from unnecessary pressures which are distracting them during examinations preparation time.”

STRANGE

The letter from the Education Department also strangely says that any money returned will be “donated” to the GHA. Mr Reyes has asked the Minister to confirm “on what legal basis is the Department of Education diverting student grant refunds to the GHA without a supplemental appropriation.”

Mr Reyes added: “The Minister has replied to me saying that the deadline will be extended to the 1 July 2020 and that the issue of the use of any sum returned will be discussed with the Financial Secretary.”

13-05-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR