The Government is maintaining its earlier stand of not accepting Foundation students for Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service while the National Federation Party says they have received many calls from students currently undertaking the MBBS program as private students of being denied scholarships and loans just because they entered the program after doing Foundation studies.
When questioned on the issue, Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says they have already made a clarification on the issue.
NFP Leader Professor Biman Prasad says while the 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.
He says those 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 school.
Prasad says 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.
The NFP Leader says it is unfair and unjust to offer scholarships 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.
He further says the students 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.
Prasad says now having done the right thing by restoring scholarship status, the Government is messing this initiative by imposing discriminatory conditions.
He says if the Government cannot provide them scholarship, the least it can do is allow them to obtain loans from TELS.
