Constância City Council unanimously approved the award of 39 scholarships for higher education, with a total value of 27 thousand euros. However, the CDU councilor, Manuela Arsénio, considered it “necessary to update the per capita value” suggesting that the capitations “should be revised” and that “the regulation has a form of updating”, remembering that she had already indicated this in the year past. The PS majority executive agreed with the communist councilor’s suggestion.
“Four applications were excluded if they did not meet the per capita ratio, or due to lack of documentation. A volume of scholarships, for a small municipality like Constância, support that, we are aware, is nothing extraordinary but helps families, but what makes me most satisfied is almost 50 students attending higher education, which is very good for the municipality and the country”, considered the president of the Chamber, Sérgio Oliveira (PS), in statements to journalists on the sidelines of the executive meeting that took place on Wednesday, January 31st.
Inserted under the heading ‘Valorize yourself, Value us’, of “Constância Maior Valor”, the higher education scholarships aim to support the continuation of studies of students with economic difficulties, residing in the municipality and with academic success, who, often due to lack of conditions, they find themselves unable to do so.
Regulated within the scope of “Constância Maior Valor”, – Scholarships for Higher Education, are intended for students who have resided in the municipality for more than a year, who are enrolled and enrolled in the 1st cycle of studies leading to a degree , or in courses that are proven to operate within an integrated study cycle leading to a master’s degree, or, in the case of continuing studies, the student must have achieved academic success.
Regarding the proposal by CDU councilor, Manuela Arsénio, to change the Regulations, Sérgio Oliveira said that “when the opposition presents constructive ideas with a view to improvement, whoever is in power must accept and not refuse because they are from the opposition”.
“That’s not our stance in Constância, it never has been and, as long as I’m president of the Chamber, it never will be. Therefore, the councilor had already made this suggestion last year, but as the days passed, it passed. We didn’t even remember. Effectively, the per capita values have to be revised for next year because life and the world have changed, and today the cost of living is much higher than it was two, three or four years ago”, indicated the mayor.
Scholarships are paid to students in two tranches, with levels taking into account the household’s income, that is, not all students receive the same amount of financial support. In 2024, the first tranche will be paid during the month of March and the second until the month of June, according to the president.