Sao Tome students in Morocco and Cuba struggle due to delays in scholarship payments

More than 400 students from Sao Tome, Morocco and Cuba have been without government stipends for months and are struggling to find food and other basic necessities, which they say is affecting their academic performance.

Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Sao Tome Students Association in the Kingdom of Morocco said that there are currently 410 Sao Tome students attending vocational courses and obtaining degrees in that country, who are supposed to receive $300 from the Sao Tome government every three months.

According to Melaine Bandeira, students have not received a scholarship since the beginning of the year, and the government has not paid any contributions or only paid one contribution for many years.

A representative of the Sao Tome students said they survived thanks to the support of their parents and part of a stipend paid by Moroccan authorities.

“The scholarship we receive from the Moroccan side is not enough for us because we have to pay for housing, we have fixed expenses, so everyday life practically becomes a torment in which the student, instead of focusing solely and exclusively on studies, always has to think about how you will pay for housing, electricity, internet and other things that we need to live a normal life,” said Melain Bandeira.

“If the state had complied with what was agreed upon, I think we would not have found ourselves in this situation,” he stressed.

In Cuba, seven medical students must receive $750 every three months.

According to student Esmael Vaz de Oliveira, in January, after a year of no payment, “the government paid the equivalent of three months” and promised to make a new payment in May, but did not do so, and the delay has caused them hardship, as they need money “for the most basic things”, namely food, transport, hygiene, medicine and school expenses.

“It was difficult to cope with because it takes too much time and then we get stressed because sometimes we stay in the classroom thinking about tomorrow, about transport to go to school, about what to eat. […] and this causes stress,” he said.

“This is something we have been facing for a long time now and when the government sends us this money we use half to pay off our debts and put the other half aside to see if it arrives by the time they promise they will send it again. [Mas] “This is something that has never happened,” added another student, Anilson Taini.

Taini said that “even knowing the socioeconomic needs that exist in Cuba,” they are learning and making an effort, “doing everything they can to try to learn what is needed” so that they can later return “to the country and help in the health sector.”

The students say they have tried several times to contact the Sao Tome and Principe Ministry of Education, but have received the same answer as always: “that there is no money in the country and that we will have to wait.”

“It’s not easy because we really need money, without money we can’t do anything,” stressed Anilson Taini.

Speaking to Lusa, the director of higher education and science said that on Thursday, students in Cuba were paid three months’ fees, but students in Morocco were given “financial availability for payment.”