Government grant program under fire for favoring elite

Having been accepted into The London School of Economics, Juan Pablo Pezo was all set to make the transatlantic trek to continue his postgraduate studies — until he was denied the necessary government grant to do so, while the children of outspoken anti-free-education deputies received funding to study abroad.

In response to what he deemed an unfair practice, Pezo launched a campaign on Change.org demanding that the children of politicians who oppose free education relinquish Becas Chile, a government-sponsored program that offers grants to students seeking postgraduate degrees in foreign universities.

In an interview with The Santiago Times, Pezo spoke about his campaign, which, to date, has collected more than 12,500 signatures.

¨The objective is that grants be given to people who deserve them for academic and socio-economic reasons,¨ he said.

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