TSLB to suspend, terminate scholarship for GPA below 3
... We can’t afford to buy milk, so he only drinks boiled water and eats cassava with his siblings ...
– Tomasi Kevu
NATIONAL Toppers Scheme (NTS) scholarship recipients whose grade point average (GPA) is below 3.0 and who fail to achieve 3.9 will have their scholarships suspended or terminated, says TLSB chief executive officer Bobby Maharaj.
Mr Maharaj’s comments come after concerns were raised by students studying medicine, who say it’s impossible to attain a GPA of 3.9 in certain medical courses.
“This is asking for grade A and above. That is not possible in all the blocks,” said a student who sought anonymity. It may be easy to get an A in community medicine studies and the highest in obstetrics and gynaecology studies has gone to B.
“How will we do this? Some of us here are hardworking students and setting the GPA high as 3.9 is a shock to us.
“Majority of my colleagues have received probation letters and since they’re on probation, they will definitely need a GPA of 3.9 above to retain their scholarships otherwise suspension may incur.”
Mr Maharaj said he didn’t have the number of students who had been placed on probation.
“For the academic year 2020, we used a GPA of 3.0 as we accounted for the impact of COVID-19 on the teaching and learning process. This was used for all students and all HEI’s (higher education institutions).
“The GPA for FNU students for 2021 has been set at 3.9/5.0 and this is equivalent to 78 per cent.” He said students were informed via email in September last year “as a caution” reminding them of the academic requirements.