Since the introduction of the social scholarship “Studētgods”, the number of scholarship recipients has increased by 2,453 students, according to the information collected by the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM).
In September 2021, the scholarship was approved for 1155 students. In February this year, the number of approved applications reached 3,608. A quarter or 25% of the approved applications were received from Latvian University students.
18% of the approved applications are for students from Riga Technical University (RTU), including RTU Liepāja Maritime Academy students, 16% from Riga Stradiņš University, and 10% from the Latvian University of Biology and Technology.
Applications for the scholarship are submitted by students from almost all universities in Latvia, with the exception of higher education institutions under the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense.
34% of scholarship recipients have declared their residence in Riga. 19% scholarship holders are named in Pieriga, 15% in Kurzeme, and in Latgale and Vidzeme – 12% scholarship holders each. At least 9% of scholarship recipients have declared their residence in Zemgale.
Those students up to the age of 25 who meet at least one of the criteria to receive the scholarship can apply for the scholarship. In the register of natural persons, at least one of the student’s parents has three or more children, the student himself has three or more children registered, the student is registered as an orphan or a young person left without parental support until e age of 18, the student has a disability group I or II.
According to the data collected by the Ministry of the Interior, applications are usually managed by the target group “Jaunietis 3+” – 94.2% of applications. In 6.9% of applications, the target group is “Orphans or without parental care”, and 1.2% – “disability”.
As reported, after long discussions, neither the Ministry of the Interior nor the Ministry of Finance (FM) has changed the decision to cut more than 2.6 million euros from the funding already allocated to the fund “Studētgods” scholarship.
The resolution was not changed even after the issue was discussed by the Saeima Education, Culture and Science Commission. The deputies called on the Ministry of the Interior to review the decision to find financial savings at the expense of students, because in the following years there could be difficulties in returning to the negotiations about increasing the stipend.
Alens Aleksandrs Čerņa, a representative of the Latvian Student Union (LSA), previously said that it is understandable to save money, but it is unacceptable to do so because of the extension of social support to low-income and needy students .
“We are not talking about numbers in Excel tables, but about people,” said Chernya.
2024-09-24 18:52:30
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