Mozambique: Scholarship students leave for Brazil after a week of protest

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Scholarship students leave for Brazil after a week of protest

12:24 CAT | 12 Feb 2024

Photo: UNE - União Nacional de Estudantes

Mozambican students who had been camped at the Instituto de Bolsas de Estudos (IBE) for almost a week, demanding compliance with an agreement to finance scholarships abroad, left for Brazil on Sunday, Lusa reports.

“We’ve already boarded,” Castigo Dias, one of the scholarship students, told Lusa, minutes before the flight left Maputo International Airport bound for Brazil.

The trip was financed by Emose – Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros.

The group of almost 40 Mozambican students had been camped, since Monday last week, outside the Instituto de Bolsas de Moçambique (IBE) in Maputo, protesting against the violation of a technical cooperation agreement between that institution and the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusofony (Unilab), a document that provided for the Mozambican government to finance its scholarships in Brazil.

According to the students, the group received their tickets on Friday, after signing some commitment documents and grant declarations at the IBE, and finally went home to prepare for the trip.

“For me it’s a dream come true, it was worth staying there (at the IBE camp)”, said Castigo Dias.

On Friday, the general director of IBE, who declined to answer journalists’ questions, reiterated that she never promised to finance students’ expenses, although an agreement, signed by the person responsible in June 2021, had this clause.

“We reiterate what we initially said about our responsibility in this process in relation to scholarships, which was nothing more than a misunderstanding on the part of students given this whole scenario,” Carla Caomba declared.

In the agreement, to which Lusa had access, the IBE takes responsibility for providing air tickets for Mozambican students, as well as monthly financial aid varying between US$175 and US$200 (€163 to €186).

The National Union of Mozambican Students (UNE) submitted a complaint against the scholarship institute to the Ombudsman, alleging that the lack of assistance to students, especially those from other provinces in the country (a total of 17), constituted “serious negligence”.

Source: Lusa