The government of the Northern Mariana Islands says scholarship programmes are too expensive to fund.
According to the Marianas Variety, lawmakers George Camacho and Pete Reyes and a government spokersperson Angel Demapan admitted that the Fitial administration can no longer afford to give graduating high school students the same scholarship support as in the past.
Mr Demapan says government is yet to discuss with the CNMI scholarship advisory board whether to recommend a new measure to the Legislature to extend the honor scholarship programme, which expires on Monday.
He says times have changed and government revenue has declined, so it needs to reevaluate the merits of the programme and assess the financial capability of the CNMI to administer the scholarships.
Angel Demapan says it is up to the Legislature to pass a bill to extend the honor scholarship programme, but lawmakers will have to identify a funding source.
