The general director of the Coahuila State Council for Science and Technology (COECYT), Mario Valdés Garza, announced that due to a lack of federal resources, the number of scholarships for postgraduate studies awarded by the institution has been significantly reduced. both at domestic and foreign universities, and indicated that of the more than 20 scholarships previously awarded annually, in 2021 only six were assigned, and in 2022 this call was not even issued.

The official pointed out that Coahuila is one of the states that has the greatest benefit in allocating federal resources to this academic program, which is why about 30 requests are received each year to access this support, which allows beneficiaries to continue their training at both the national university and in institutions in Spain, UK, USA and other countries.

«At the national level there are no resources, the resources that we have and the support we have from the National Science and Technology Council are closed, there is no support except for scholarships for young people who are pursuing postgraduate studies both at home and abroad, However, in this call has not gone out, we don’t know what the reason is,” said the manager.

«Regarding national scholarships, all the programs we have in Coahuila that are listed on the National Graduate Register are those that automatically receive scholarships. Year after year we usually have about 30 applications for masters and doctoral studies, Coahuila is one of the states that has had the biggest gains, but in recent years they have reduced it significantly and last year we only had six,” he added.

In this case, he gave an example, most of the council’s activities are financed by the state budget, coupled with election fines.

“These fines represent the council revenue we have to be able to work and undertake all projects devoted to science and technology in the State of Coahuila. Since 2017, when the election fines program for state councils of all state entities was initiated, we have received around 120 million pesos, which have been allocated to various projects from 2017 to date,” said the director of COECYT.

“Regarding the country’s resources, we have annual programs that represent different amounts, some from 13 million pesos per year, in other cases a little bit more depending on the program, and that is the way we go forward with different projects being set up year after year within the council to promote science and technology in the state”, he explained. (ANGEL AGUILAR / EL HERALDO)

Author

Archangel Aguilar

El Heraldo de Saltillo reporter with a recognized career in radio and writing press in the state of Coahuila.