BY CHRIS ALEX
THE Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, Hon. Tozen Leokana, addressed a critical question posed by Opposition Leader, Hon. Mathew Wale. The inquiry concerned the status of the $20 million MP scholarships award grant under the 2024 recurrent budget in the parliament session today.
Minister Leokana confirmed that for the fiscal year 2024, a total of $20 million was budgeted under the Members of Parliament (MP) award grant.
He explained that this amount would be divided equally among the 50 constituencies, with each constituency receiving $400,000 to support students in paying school tuition fees.
“The $20 million grant is already included in the recurrent budget, and MPs can now access these funds,” Leokana stated, addressing MPs directly. He added that several weeks ago, MPs had received a breakdown in their pigeonholes, outlining the allocation of these funds, and indicated that some MPs had already received their share.
The minister emphasized that the purpose of the scholarship grant is to provide financial assistance to students across constituencies, helping ease the burden of tuition fees for families and ensuring that students continue their education without disruption.
Leokana clarified that the key requirement for MPs to access the 2024 scholarship fund is to first retire their previous 2023 grant allocations.
“Those of you retiring the 2023 grant, the funds for 2024 are available in my ministry,” he assured the MPs, adding that once the previous year’s grants are retired, MPs can proceed to access the new funds.
One remaining procedural step is for MPs to provide the Ministry with the bank account details for their constituencies. Leokana explained that his ministry is working with the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) to gather this information. “We are all in the same boat, waiting for constituency bank accounts,” he said, further reassuring the House that the funds would be transferred once these details are available.
Hon. Leokana concluded his statement by affirming that the funds are ready to be disbursed and that the Ministry of Finance is on standby to process the allocations as soon as the necessary information is received.
