It is unfortunate that, as with everything they do, the Opposition have now sought to politicise the question of university funding for students in private schools in Gibraltar or abroad.

This policy, in relation specifically to areas like scholarships, housing and health was announced by the Chief Minister in his New Year Message.

The objective by tightening the award criteria is to catch out those who are not entitled to benefit from free scholarships.

The point is that genuine cases, particularly those with children born in Gibraltar, have nothing to worry about.

It will be abundantly clear from the criteria, once this is published shortly, that the aim is to tackle fraudsters and freeloaders who are exploiting various routes to automatic qualification for scholarships and not to impact genuine cases with a long-standing connection to Gibraltar.

In his New Year message in January, the Chief Minister said:  

“As we get larger we must define clearly who is entitled to the many benefits that our nation provides to its citizens. Housing, access to the services of our Health Authority and students’ scholarships are the flagship benefits that we enjoy in Gibraltar. It is time to ensure that our rules are clearly drawn to provide these benefits to our people and NOT to those who may move here simply to benefit from them. In coming months we will, also, therefore be drawing more tightly the entitlement criteria for access to services going forward. I am sure that there will be widespread support for this throughout the community to ensure the sustainability of these benefits for our children.”

While the Government is generally aware of the background of pupils who attend state schools in Gibraltar, including period of residency and other such matters, it is not aware of the same in relation to those pupils who attend private schools here or outside of Gibraltar and who claim rights to automatically qualify for scholarships via links to Gibraltar. The new criteria will assist in making the distinction between those who are entitled to a scholarship award and those who are not.

The taxpayer spent over £17 million in scholarships in the financial year 2023/2024 and it is important to make sure that only those who are entitled to access this funding are able to do so.  Children in private schools in Gibraltar account for approximately £2m of cost over the lifetime of a 3 year undergraduate degree.

The Minister for Education has already reached out to representatives of the private schools in order to further explain the policy. The knee-jerk reaction from the Opposition in relation to this matter will leave many wondering whether all they want is to sweep any fraudulent behaviour under the carpet.