Scholarship holders who are studying far from home will have an increase in the supplement to their accommodation, which could reach 38%, announced the Government, explaining that the support could exceed five thousand euros per year.
The Minister of Higher Education and Science Elvira Fortunato announced today in Parliament that the Government has decided to increase, this academic year, support for additional accommodation for displaced scholarship students.
«The Government evaluated and approved a significant increase in the accommodation supplement for scholarship students displaced from higher education in order to ensure that the supplements paid are in line with the average price of private accommodation practiced in different cities in the country», revealed the minister, giving as examples the cases of the municipalities of Lisbon, Cascais and Oeiras which now cost 456,41 euros per month or in Porto which rises to 432,39 euros.
The measures now approved “increase support for students by up to 38%”, and could represent for some students an increase of “an additional 5.020 euros per year”, revealed the minister, during the debate on the beginning of the academic year that is taking place in parliament at request from the PCP.
«The current academic year is starting according to plan and we even dare to say that it is going very well given all the improvements introduced in the National Competition for Access to Higher Education as well as in Social Action, but we know that there is still a lot to do", admitted the government official, pointing out housing as one of the "most worrying aspects".
The minister also added that the majority of the first projects (60%) for new beds that were contracted exactly one year ago – in September 2022 – “are already under construction or about to start”.
However, this was not the scenario outlined a few minutes earlier by PCP deputy Alfredo Maia, who criticized the "glaring lack of 104 beds in residences" and a National Plan for Higher Education Accommodation (PNAES) "which is not coming out of paper”.
For the communists, «an urgent expansion of the public residence network is necessary», as well as an «increase in support for housing, among other measures».
Alfredo Maia also warned about the fact that prices are rising in canteens and the precariousness of those who work in higher education, "which affects 53% of all teachers" and "75% of researchers or even 80% when considering the scholarship holders for research unit projects”.
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