Tertiary Education Loans Scheme (TELS) and National Toppers Scholarship Scheme (NTS) will continue in 2020 and beyond, says Bobby Maharaj.

The Tertiary Scholarship Loans Board chief executive officer gave this assurance after several claims and rumours that the Government will not offer these scholarships next year.

He said there would be no restrictions on the number of scholarships or the number of students who could benefit from TELS, students only need to pass Year 13 or foundation to be eligible to apply.

“All the students who meet the eligibility criteria will be eligible for TELS,” said Mr Maharaj.

For the National Toppers Scholarship Scheme, there will be 950 scholarships for local studies and 20 for overseas studies.

“All students who will complete Year 13 or Foundation Studies by the end of 2019 (31/12/2019) are eligible to apply for NTS,” he said.

However, foundation studies will no longer be considered for NTS from 2021, next year would be the last year.

“All students completing Year 13 or foundation studies  this year and those completing or have completed Year 12 in 2017 and thereafter and wishing to pursue approved engineering courses at Fiji National University in 2020, should not wait for the last minute to apply, but should apply now.”

Applications for 2020 will close on December 15, 2019.

After several claims and rumours that scholarships will not be offered from next year, Mr Maharaj reassured the public that NTS and TELS will continue in 2020 and beyond.

Edited by Percy Kean

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