The Federal Government (FG) has reduced the allowances of foreign scholars who are studying under the Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) Scholarship by 12.7 per cent due to economic hardship. The BEA scholarship is an education exchange program between Nigeria and the partnering countries supervised by the Federal Scholarship Board under the Federal Ministry of Education.
The scholars affected are studying in Russia, Morocco, China, Algeria, among other countries.
This reduction of allowances was announced in a memo signed by the Director of the Federal Scholarship Board, Ndajiwo H.A, on behalf of the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman.
The memo reads in part, “After due consultations, the Federal Scholarship Board has come up with adjustments in line with budgetary provisions in the payment of BEA scholar’s supplementation allowances for the 2024 academic year.
According to the memo, the graduation allowance was reduced from $2,500 to $2,000; the Post-Graduate research allowance was also reduced from $1,000 to $500 and monthly allowances from $500 to $220.
Initially, the total amount payable to each student was $5,650, but it will now be $4,370 per scholar.
The memo further stated, “The scholars’ association is hereby notified that due to the prevailing economic situation, the payment mandate for the BEA scholars’ allowances will be as per the new adjustment.
“The balances for the years 2023 and 2024 owed to scholars will be paid as soon as the funds are made available.”