The mobilization of Sicilian university students continues to ask the region for adequate funds for scholarships. After Monday’s demonstration in Palermo, in front of the Presidency of the Region, of Udu Palermo, «Nun si parti» and other student associations, today the students of Messina were protesting for scholarships and for the right to stay, in front of the city’s Ersu.
«As a union – says Gabriella Messina, regional confederal secretary of the CGIL – we are committed to demanding from the regional government adequate youth, education and training and employment policies, and the scholarships, which go to students belonging to families with an ISEE income of around 23 thousand euros, are one of the cornerstones of the CGIL’s platform of demands. Young Sicilian men and women – he adds – must be able to choose to continue their studies and also to be able to stay or return to Sicily, but for this we also need development policies that create the necessary job opportunities”. Only 6,530 Unipa students were able to benefit from the scholarship this year, 44% of those eligible after submitting the application. The percentage of beneficiaries from the University of Messina is even lower, 38% (2,639 units). In Catania there were 5,301 beneficiaries, 47% of those eligible, in Enna 792, 49% of students who would have been eligible. «These data – comments Gabriella Messina – reveal that the largest portion of the student population from low-income families remains excluded. This effectively means denying the right to study and equal opportunities among all young men and women, allowing discrimination to persist between those who can afford to continue studying and those who cannot and this is unacceptable. The students’ protest with the support of the CGIL – concludes the union representative – will continue until concrete results are obtained.