Romania to cut scholarship spending

The Ministry of Education announced a reform of the scholarships paid to pupils, while the Ruling Programme, as published by the Government, envisages a 40% reduction in the per-student budget for scholarships. Both measures prompted protests since they were among the first announced out of a broader set of measures aimed at achieving significant fiscal consolidation over the coming years.

The budget for scholarships for pupils reached RON 6.4 billion (EUR 1.3 billion, 0.3% of GDP) this year, which is three times the budget for research, Minister of Education Daniel David commented, quoted by Edupedu.ro. He warned that his ministry will no longer be able to pay the scholarships unless the allocation criteria are revised.

Under the new system, the social scholarships, based on the families’ revenues, will be maintained, while the performance-based scholarships will be restricted to pupils with an average grade of over 9.5 (out of 10) but no more than 15% of the number of pupils in the class. The scholarships paid to those winning school contests are suspended until the school contests are reviewed.

As regards the students’ scholarships, they are paid out of a budget calculated per student: 10% of the minimum gross wage. Under the revised system, the per-student allocation for the budget of scholarships is calculated as 10% of the minimum net wage. This is because the scholarships are not subject to taxation, Minister David argued.

The annual budget of student scholarships, based on a number of 540,000 students, is RON 2.4 billion currently but will drop to just over RON 1.4 billion after the amendment.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / George Călin)