Africa-Press – Cape verde. Funding, insufficient scholarships for students going abroad, and the fact that many young people who leave intending to study never even enter higher education are some of the main challenges that higher education in Cape Verde continues to face.
Remarks made by the Director-General of Higher Education, Romualdo Correia, at the opening of the conference “Futuro Superior: Decision, Transition, and Challenges of Cape Verdean Students in Higher Education in Portugal,” taking place today in Praia.
“At this moment, there are three major challenges. One of the challenges has to do with higher education financing; let’s say it’s a critical challenge both in Portugal and here in Cape Verde. In the specific case of the Portuguese system, it has to do with the amount of scholarships, which is relatively insufficient and doesn’t even cover the cost of accommodation at the time. This year, an update to this amount was on the table, but the government opted to expand the number of beneficiaries. It’s a political decision we made in this regard, but we are aware of this challenge,” he stated.
Regarding the fact that many students who go to Portugal end up not enrolling in higher education, the official warns that the country risks losing one of its greatest assets.
“Another challenge is that, at the moment, there are students who go to Portugal and a substantial portion never even get into university, which means that Cape Verde, in this particular case, is losing its asset,” he explained.
Romualdo Correia emphasizes that the government’s goal is to create conditions for people’s training and make the education system more inclusive…
“Our goal is to work towards empowering people in Cape Verde. A study has already been completed on the higher education financing system here in Cape Verde. This study will be intensively shared with universities and various other stakeholders. In this regard, this government’s commitment is that no one should be left without studying due to a lack of funding. Everyone who wants to study will be able to study, because the system must be inclusive, taking into account the most vulnerable groups, namely groups 1 and 2 of the registry, and then also rewarding good students,” he emphasized.
At the conference “Futuro Superior: Decision-Making, Transition, and Challenges of Cape Verdean Students in Higher Education in Portugal,” a study on the expectations and intentions of 12th-grade students was presented.
The survey shows that the majority want to continue their studies in Portugal, but information is often lacking.
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