Afghan students in Iran say yet to receive living cost

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghan students studying in Iran on scholarship are complaining they do not receive living cost as promised to them under the scheme.

Atiqullah Ahmadzai Sultani, one of the scholarship holders while speaking on behalf of fellow mates, said they gathered in front of the Afghan Embassy in Tehran to seek their rights. They chanted slogans and demanded their living allowance.

Ahmadzai said around 500 university teachers from different universities had been offered master’s and doctorate degree scholarship in Iran in 2018 but their living allowance had not been paid since their arrival.

He claimed Afghan embassy officials had asked Iranian security personnel not to allow them to protest in front of the embassy.

Ahmadzai said if the embassy was involved in their disgrace and sabotaging their protest, all the embassy staff, including the ambassador, would be held responsible.

He said every student was given 600,000 Toman equal to 1,450 afghanis monthly which was not enough.

Hamid Obaidi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), said they had dispatched the list of Afghan students in Iran to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) had sent their living allowance as well.

He added MoFA had handed over the cash amount of students to the embassy which had started distribution of the allowance.

He said the MoFA should answer why the students were not provided with the living allowance.

But Gran Hiwad, MoFA spokesman, said that the budget, its calculation and execution was the responsibility of the Higher Education Ministry.

He said every fourth months, the MoFA received the list according to which students were provided with cash allowance.

nh/ma