The payment of more than 200,000 postgraduate grants from Capes (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) is paralyzed due to the freezing of MEC (Ministry of Education) funds approved a week ago by the Ministry of Economy.
According to a note from the body responsible for promoting, regulating, and evaluating Brazilian postgraduate courses, the authorization for financial disbursements during the month of December was zeroed, which removed the "capacity to disburse any and all amounts – even if previously pledged and liquidated".
Capes claims to be in contact with the other ministries to get the resources unobstructed. For now, scholars across the country are in the situation of not receiving payments this month, making it difficult to carry out everyday activities such as buying food.
This is the case of biologist Amanda Schiersner, 30, who is doing her doctoral research on HPV (human papillomavirus) at the Cancer Institute, in São Paulo. Schiersner is in the second year of her doctorate in the graduate program at the USP Med School and receives a scholarship worth R$ 2,200.
"My scholarship is equivalent to 50% of my family's monthly income, and not being paid leaves us in a very desperate situation. I've already cried a lot because I don't know how I'm going to get through it", she said.
Translated by Cassy Dias