BY GEORGINA KEKEA
THE Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) will continue to improve the monitoring and management of SIG-scholarship.
Permanent Secretary (PS) Dr Franco Rodie when responding to Island Sun’s query on scholarship for students in Philippines said MERHD have reduced the number of scholarships for students there already.
He said the outcome of the review conducted in 2017 by MEHRD has resulted in a reduced number of scholarships for students to study in Philippines.
“For 2019, around nine students will have the opportunity to study in Philippines,” Rodie said.
He said however data has shown that the students’ performance have actually improved for the last four years.
“For instance, in 2014, a total of 300 students were terminated or suspended from their programmes,
2015, a total of 200 students, 2016, a total of 150 students, 2017, we only have 70 students either terminated or suspended,” Rodie wrote to Island Sun.
He said MEHRD-NTU will also continue to manage and facilitate the constituency scholarship allocation through the normal scholarship processes.
“Selection of candidates will adhere to and comply with the scholarship selection criteria and processes.”
Rodie said for 2019, there are 100 scholarship opportunities available for the fifty constituencies in Solomon Islands. A reduction from the 200 scholarships that was usually awarded each year by a constituent’s MP.
Last year (2017), Rodie told the Public Accounts Committee that MPs will not interfere with the selection process, a comment to which the PAC agreed to.
“Scholarships are for high achievers thus it cannot be awarded to just anyone who wants to pursue studies,” Rodie told PAC last year.
