According to the municipality's president, Cristina Pedra, the Funchal City Council resolved to award 260 scholarships totalling €220 thousand to students pursuing higher education in the academic year 2023-2024.
Cristina Pedra also mentioned that the municipality altered the scholarship allocation rule, last year, to limit eligibility to wealthier families and uphold principles that benefit "the population with fewer financial resources and the middle class.” As she highlighted, “we strengthened the middle class and put a maximum ceiling because there are families with income of thousands of euros per month that we considered should not be the 'target' to receive money from the public treasury.”
A total of 2,300 applications were received, until 12 January 2024, the day when the submission process ended. According to Cristina Pedra, the “payments are already being approved”, with the scholarships’ amount ranging between €250 and €1,100. As emphasized by the municipality’s president, “a couple with one child can have a net income of €3,400 and still be able to obtain a scholarship for their child.”
Cristina Pedra reports that the Funchal municipality also approved a project that exempted the population from all the municipality's parishes from paying for animal vaccinations. This campaign is expected to vaccinate 700 animals overall, 300 of which have electronic identification. Additionally, the local administration stated that 28 internship slots, covering a variety of topics like cleaning and urban planning, would be opening up in the municipality.