Additional sponsorship for airfare and accommodation will be given to a significant number of students, This was stated in a statement to the media by the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Mr. Prodromos Prodromou, after the meeting he had today at the Ministry with the President of the Pancyprian Federation of Student Associations (PofEN) Mr. Rafael Zachariadis. The meeting was also attended by the Head of the Student Welfare Service Mr. Gabriel Mithillos.
Specifically, Mr. Prodromou in his statements said: "It is true that there are inflationary pressures all over the world and our students either in Cyprus or abroad are facing problems related to accommodation and airline tickets, the prices of which have increased.
Therefore, taking into account the inflationary pressures, as well as the request made by POFEN, we decided, within the framework of our possibilities and the policy for student sponsorship, to allocate, as planned, an amount of €3-3.5 million, to be given as an additional sponsorship for airfare of €200 to more than 2,000 international students and also to give an additional sponsorship for accommodation of €500, which will support several thousand of our students.
We are responding to the request of POFEN, using the margins given to us within the Budget for student sponsorship, and there has been a discussion with the Federation for the next few years, "noted the Minister of Education in conclusion.
For his part, the President of POFEN said that POFEN welcomes the actions of the Minister of Education for the allocation of the unallocated funds to students who really need it and expressed his satisfaction because the proposals of POFEN were adopted.
Then, the Minister of Education answered to questions from journalists.
In response to a question on how many students will benefit from these funds, Prodromou said: "Based on the calculations that have been made, 2,200 will benefit for airfares and the aid for housing will benefit more than 6,000 students."
Asked whether these amounts will be added to the student grant given each year, the Education Minister noted: "This is the amount that we can allocate from our Budget. We do not have the ability to change the Budget now but we are using the Budget, allocating the budget that remains available, targeting airfares and housing."
Asked if there will be a specific application that students will make, Prodromou said: "No, it is on the basis of the applications that have been submitted and the information that the Student Services Department is processing. The additional grant will be transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries."
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