The students studying under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Educational Agreement(BEA) Scholarship in Russia have rejected the the recent federal government’s announcement of a slash in their allowance.
Recall that the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, announced a deduction in allowances of the allowance of the foreign scholars by 23 percent.
The students under the Association of Nigerian Scholarship Students in Russia (ANSSIR), in a letter addressed to the Director, Federal Scholarship Board, Ministry of Education, stated that they rejected the reduction after careful deliberation.
The letter which was signed by the scholars’ association President, Alabi Jeffery and the General Secretary, Aniagboso Chukwuka, stated that due to the high cost of living, some of the students, especially those in major cities, can barely survive on $500.
The scholars’ monthly allowances were slashed from $500 to $220; the graduation allowance from $2500 to $2000; and the PG research allowance was slashed from $1,000 to $500, among others.
The total for the payments initially paid was $5,650 per student but will now be $4,370.
The students therefore appealed to the Board to revert to the original payment as captured in their contract, which entitles every scholar to $500 extra.
The letter reads, “We, the leadership of the Scholars’ Association, on behalf of the scholars and following careful deliberation with them, are writing to formally express our strong rejection of the recent announcement regarding the reduction of supplementation allowances for Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholars for the 2024 academic year.
“Students, especially those in major cities, can barely survive on $500 due to the high cost of living. ANSSIR has been at the forefront of requesting an increment in stipends over the last three years. The majority of the scholars live in Moscow, Petersburg, and Kazan, where the cost of living is significantly rising annually. Such a reduction only throws more than 60% of the scholars into much bigger problems, especially given that students are legally not allowed to work, and raids by the Russian intelligence in those major areas have been recorded more often in recent days than in the past.
“Furthermore, this decision was made without consulting BEA scholars. Such disregard for our experiences fails to reflect the realities of living conditions in our host countries. We firmly oppose this decision, which we consider unjust and detrimental to our well-being.
“The rationale provided for this reduction is unacceptable. Fluctuations in the | foreign exchange rate have long been an issue; it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that supplementary funds are available to cover budget shortfalls, rather than shifting this burden om students.
“ In light of this, we formally write to reject this reduction, and appeal that FSB revert to the original supplementary budget as captured in our contract, which entitles every scholar to $500 extra. We understand that, this will cause a shortfall in the 2024 budget, just as in 2023. We BEA scholars in Russia, have decided FSB pays whatever amount they have at hand while we wait for the government to outsource funds for all the shortfalls in our budget.
“We urge you to reconsider this decision and restore the old supplementary amount that reflects our actual living costs.”