TG And Government Clash Over Discretionary Grants
Together Gibraltar and the Government clashed yesterday evening over the issue of discretionary educational grants with the party accusing the Government of operating a system which lacks fairness and transparency. The Government swiftly replied by accusing Marlene Hassan Nahon of issuing a “populist retort”.
A TG statement set out the party’s main points: “After being contacted by many disgruntled students and parents who have been denied the opportunity of furthering their studies, it is the opinion of Together Gibraltar that the discretionary grant “system” needs urgent review. The party understands that when Government funds are limited and austerity measures are being implemented it is more important than ever to implement policies that are effective, fair and transparent. This is not the case with the way discretionary grants are handled at the moment.
“Faster handling of applications is necessary.
“Firstly TG would like to highlight the bad handling of these applications. Minister Cortes’ statement, which mentions the possibility of appeal, omits the fact that students have not been given enough time to react to the department’s decision, let alone after an appeal. With their courses only days away, many students had already taken a leap of faith and reserved accommodation and made arrangements to ensure that they could safely arrive to their new destinations and fulfil their obligations. It is also too late for students to find alternative, maybe less expensive courses they can fund themselves. With better handling of existing resources these applications could be processed much more efficiently, thus wasting students unnecessary complications and grief.
“Discretionary policies are always open to abuse.
“We would like the department of education to disclose the details of all the courses funded, as well as the criteria applied for the acceptance (or not) of all applications, as it is too often the case that discretionary funding of any kind is abused. Considering the growing divide between the electorate and institutions of power, and the levels of nepotism we are used to seeing in the handling of public affairs, it is fundamental that we implement these policies with exquisite fairness and pristine transparency.
“Austerity in education will be more costly in the future.
“As much as Together Gibraltar understands the pitiful state of our public finances after a decade of GSLP mismanagement, the party believes that investing in education is the best way to invest in our future economy and our capacity to generate wealth. TG would therefore like to see this area of spending prioritised, and (if absolutely necessary) cuts to be directed to other areas of public spending.”
For its part, Number Six replied: “Marlene Hassan Nahon in her populist retort on discretionary scholarships is as usual disrespecting the hard working staff of the Department of Education as well as the Scholarships Panel which assesses applications and does so on a totally voluntary basis.
“She has also jumped the gun as there is for the first time a clear and direct appeals process which will result in unsuccessful applications being scrutinised again.
“The delay in publishing the results is regretted but was precisely because so much attention was given to assessing the applications in view of the fact that there were so many and that, as Ms Hassan Nahon should be aware, finances are tight.
“It should be noted that some of the applicants who have been unsuccessful have already had funding for two or more degrees, and priority has been given to those who have not already had this level of Government support. Other applicants were ineligible for other reasons, including reasons of residency.”
Minister for Education John Cortes said, “It should be remembered that it was this Government that introduced funding for second degrees. It has awarded two thirds of all discretionary applications, and has provided more scholarships than any other Government and invested many, many millions in Education at all levels. No one has ever done more.”
