The Association of University Students of Conejeros (AEUCO) denounces that they "feel marginalized by the Cabildo, since after demanding, last August, greater support for university students in Lanzarote, they did not receive a single call from the person in charge of the area." They also point out from a press release that "they have not counted on the student group, which brings together more than 800 members and represents all university students in Lanzarote, to establish the bases for extraordinary aid." "It is incomprehensible that after months in office the Councillor has not been able to contact us even to introduce herself," says the student group, and adds, "we are not here to hinder the work they do in the area of education, quite the opposite, but we believe that they have had enough time to receive us and start working together to improve the lives of Conejero students."
Regarding the bases and development of the call, they denounce the deficiencies in the bases of the extraordinary educational aid of the Cabildo, including the "short period that the institution has granted to request them, also requiring a series of documentation that requires a prior request and processing of about ten days for its issuance, and that in some cases will prevent the student from obtaining it within the application period."
In addition, they add that students face an added difficulty, and that is "that the electronic headquarters of the Cabildo is not properly operational and therefore the student who is outside the island is forced to give up applying for said aid, despite urgently needing it, due to the disastrous management of the electronic headquarters."
They also explain that according to the call for extraordinary educational aid from the Cabildo of Lanzarote, which aims to prevent students from abandoning their studies, "it does not pursue this purpose since it resembles the bases of the current scholarships from the Ministry of Education and the Government of the Canary Islands." "We must take into account that they are not ordinary scholarships but extraordinary aid, although they only have the name of extraordinary cause," says Mr. García.
"Being extraordinary aid, for educational emergency, set to prevent the student from being forced to abandon their studies, academic requirements cannot be taken into account in the weighting for its concession, since it is assumed that the student is in danger of continuing their studies due to extraordinary causes," he points out. Therefore, "we ask that this aid can be requested throughout the year, without a limited period, because we believe that family circumstances change overnight."
For future calls, they believe it is necessary to eliminate and modify, among others, the following condition included in the bases that "students who have remained in the degree for two courses above the official duration stipulated in the Study Plan of the same" cannot be beneficiaries of this educational aid. "Since there may be cases of students who do not pass year after year because they have to combine their studies with a working day due to an unfavorable economic solvency situation and therefore, they must pay part of the expenses by working and therefore cannot pass year after year."
In addition, they point out that the ordinary aid from the Cabildo for the 2014-2015 academic year has not yet been deposited, nor has the accommodation aid.
Finally, they remember that "this aid is absolutely necessary and therefore it would be good if they counted on student groups to improve the bases and so that we can give our opinion and contribute ideas, and thus, together, improve the life of the Conejero student inside and outside the island."
