Antonio Maldonado, a law student from Lanzarote at the University of La Laguna and president of the Association of Students from Conejeros, has once again denounced that the Ministry of Education has denied him the university scholarship for the current academic year 2013-2014. This student has announced that he will go on a hunger strike starting on January 27, once the exams are over, unless the Ministry proposes a "viable" solution beforehand. The hunger strike will take place in front of the scholarship office of the University of La Laguna.
During the past year, 2012-2013, the Ministry also refused to grant him a subsidy "for an unprecedented reason": "lack of fiscal documentation from the parent". Maldonado is an orphan, so "obviously a deceased person can hardly declare income", the student denounces.
In that case, in the past year, the media also echoed this complaint from the student, who managed to get the intervention of the national deputy, Francisco Cabrera, and obtained the subsidy. He had to go through all these procedures, despite being an orphan and having been abandoned by his mother. And, on top of his personal situation, he managed to pass high school and the PAU "with an outstanding average".
Despite these precedents, the student from Conejeros has not obtained the scholarship for this year, although he meets "both the economic and academic requirements" with flying colors. In the past year, he achieved five outstanding grades and an average grade of 8.00.
The Ministry has refused to grant the scholarship alleging "the loss of the documentation that the student presented to justify his socio-economic situation, and the lack of economic accreditation". "Due to this denial, I presented the corresponding allegations to the scholarship office that processes the scholarship, attaching again the lost documentation, but without success in proposing a solution. Furthermore, because of this denial, they require me to pay the tuition fees in order to appear in the minutes", explains Maldonado.
Will step down as president of Aeuco during the strike
Maldonado, who is also the president of the Association of Students from Conejeros (AEUCO), will temporarily leave his position while the hunger strike lasts. "More than applying for a scholarship, it seems like you are buying lottery tickets. One cannot be begging every year to be given something that is rightfully theirs. They are even violating constitutionally recognized rights", denounces the young man.
