The Foundation of State Scholarships of Cyprus (Ikyk) ran out of money and is offering fewer scholarships to university students, said Akel deputy Christos Christofides in the legislature on Thursday. “In previous years some 950 scholarships were given and today only 400 were announced,” said Christofides, explaining that a large part of available funds was used to pay older scholarships. He called on the finance ministry to submit a supplementary budget immediately so that none of the eligible students is left without support.

The scholarship, worth €3,000 a year, is not paid to students from low-income families, but to students who get top marks in their lyceum leaving certificate. Originally anyone who scored 19.75 out of 20 was eligible, but three years ago Ikyk lowered the total to 19.65 thus increasing the number of those eligible, without the annual fund being increased, which led to some of those eligible not receiving this peculiar scholarship that was paid to students from wealthy backgrounds that could afford to pay for private lessons and have an advantage.

It is no surprise that an Akel deputy would make an issue out of the fewer state scholarships going to students who do not necessarily need such support. The party is always campaigning for more state support for university students. A few weeks ago, it was demanding that the annual grant paid to students was increased because it had remained unchanged for years, not to mention the campaigning for public universities to build more housing for students.

All this, for students studying for free at public universities is astonishing, but paying grants to youths, for all the years they are at university, because they got top marks in high school, is beyond ridiculous. Who thought of this scandalous waste of the taxpayer’s money? Is it not enough that smart, hard-working or motivated teenagers are rewarded with top marks and a place at a public university where they can study for free? Do we have to give them a cash reward as well, further encouraging a sense of entitlement among the young, who have been made to think they have a right to state handouts because they are studying for a degree and must be guaranteed an easy life.

In the past, Cypriots who went abroad to get a degree, because there were no universities here, also worked to cover their expenses, lived in cheap housing which they shared with others and made no demands of the state. Nobody expected the state to fund them because university study involved sacrifice. Now, we have ludicrous organisations like Ikyk, paying out money to students who do not need financial support for no rational reason. State scholarships must be given exclusively to students from poor backgrounds.

It is good that the Akel deputy brought up the issue of grants being paid to rich kids. Now that we know what is happening, pressure must be put on Ikyk to put an end to this scandalous waste of the taxpayer’s money.