Last November 28th, Plenary session of Congress approved the national budget bill for 2026which includes only 50 of the S/529 million necessary to finance the 20,000 vacancies for young people who will obtain a place in Scholarship 18. In that vote, the members of the Budget Committee They supported this proposal and now 16 of its 29 members are seeking reelection to the next bicameral Parliament.
The main legislators seeking re-election are members of the Fuerza Popular, Alianza para el Progreso (APP), Renovación Popular benches, among others.
It all began on August 30 when the government of the former president Dina Boluarte presented the initiative to the aforementioned working group. After several weeks of debate, on November 20, the opinion was approved for approval in the Chamber. However, nowhere in the document – which was unanimously supported by the Commission – was the financing of the scholarships included.
Following this, Alexandra Ames resigned from the position of executive director of the National Program of Scholarships and Educational Credit (Pronabec) and blamed the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) for the exclusion from the budget of the scholarships announced by the Government of José Jerí. According to Ames, the problem was triggered by a “technical error” by the MEF, by not allocating the financing even though, as he stated, the Education sector complied with sending the necessary information to the ministry.
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After this, 14 congressmen sent a letter to the Prime Minister, Ernesto Álvarez, in which they demand that the Government ensure resources for the financing of the 20,000 Scholarships announced by the Executive during the Plenary session on October 22.
In that sense, the debate in the Plenary Session of Congress went to an intermission on November 26, despite the fact that the debate began a day earlier. Two days later, a replacement text to the budget law was approved in which a provision was added that would guarantee the financing of scholarships, but only 50 million of the 529 million requested by Pronabec were included. The provision authorizes the Ministry of Education (Minedu) to redirect resources within its own budget to try to cover the remainder in the sector.
In short, Minedu will be able to move money between programs and activities to finance Pronabec scholarships.
According to the former director of the National Scholarship Program (Pronabec), Alexandra Amessaid budget is not even enough to finance 2,000 scholarships promised for young people.
“Of the current Government’s commitment to 20,000 Beca 18 scholarships, this is reduced to 10%, that is, ceasing to finance 90%. This situation is quite complex because this year an effort was even made to reach the entire territory to make enormous dissemination and call on the best talents at the national level. (…) So doing calculations, those S/50 million are not even enough for 2,000 Beca 18 scholarships,” he revealed in an interview for La República published on December 2.
Congressmen who were part of the budget commission and seek re-election
The Republic was able to corroborate through the list of candidates registered with the ONPE that, of the 29 regular members of the working group led by Congressman Alejandro Soto (Alliance for Progress), 16 voted in favor of said tiny amount being allocated for scholarships for young people. Likewise, these parliamentarians will try to return to occupy a seat as senator, deputy and Andean parliamentarian.
Three of the members of APP are running for 2026. Among them are Soto Reyes, as a candidate for deputy and second vice president in the presidential formula of César Acuña; Nelcy Heidinger as a replacement for senator and the former president of Congress, Eduardo Salhuana, as a candidate for the Senate.
On the other hand, from Fujimorism, Eduardo Castillo Rivas, Mery Infantes and Tania Ramírez will compete for the position of the chamber of deputies, while David Jiménez will go to the Senate.
In Avanza País, Rosselli Amuruz will take a different path: the Andean Parliament, as well as José Arriola (Vamos Perú).
From Renovación Popular, Diego Bazán and Miguel Ciccia will run as deputies.
On the left side, Isaac Mita and Américo Gonza (Perú Libre) will try for the position of senators; from Together for Peru, Elías Varas, too.
| Congressman | BENCH | I vote in favor of S/50 million to Beca 18 | WILL APPLY IN 2026 |
| Soto Reyes, Alejandro | APP | Yeah | Yes, as a deputy and second vice president |
| Castillo Rivas, Eduardo Enrique | Popular Force | Yeah | Yes, as a deputy |
| Amuruz Dulanto, Rosselli | Country Advances | Yeah | Yes, as an Andean parliamentarian |
| Arriola Tueros, José Alberto | We can Peru | Yeah | Yes, as an Andean parliamentarian |
| Bazan Calderon, Diego | Popular Renewal | Yeah | Yes, as a deputy |
| Ciccia Vásquez, Miguel Ángel | Popular Renewal | Yeah | Yes, as a deputy |
| Gonza Castillo, Americo | Free Peru | Yeah | Yes, as a senator |
| Heidinger Ballesteros, Nelcy | APP | Yeah | Yes, as a substitute senator |
| Infantes Castañeda, Mery Eliana | Popular Force | Yeah | Yes, as a deputy |
| Jimenez Heredia, David | Popular Force | Yeah | Yes, as a senator |
| Mita Alanoca, Isaac | Free Peru | Yeah | Yes, as a senator |
| Monteza Facho, Silvia María | Popular Action | Yeah | Yes, as a senator |
| Ramírez García, Tania | Popular Force | Yeah | Yes, as a deputy |
| Salhuana Cavides, Eduardo | APP | Yeah | Yes, as a senator |
| Valer Pinto, Hector | We are Peru | Yeah | Yes, as a senator |
| Varas Meléndez, Elías Marcial | JPP | Yeah | Yes, as a senator |
“We should not be surprised by this attitude of congressmen,” says expert
In dialogue with La República, the political scientist and professor of Political Science at the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), Alejandro Mejía, mentioned that “we should not be surprised by this attitude of the congressmen” after the approval of only 50 million soles for the financing of scholarships because the parliamentarians “are already campaigning.” Likewise, Mejía maintained that said remaining budget “has been redirected towards other budget statements such as public works in the regions that respond exclusively to electoral purposes.”
“These types of actions should remind us as citizens that we must vote truly informed in the next elections and not perpetuate in representative positions people who make decisions to the detriment of education,” he said.
Along the same lines, Mejia criticized the Government of Jerí and that of Boluarte for their little attention to the priority of closing educational gaps through opportunities for young people. Likewise, he questioned the lack of leadership in the Minedu “by not defending the need for said budget, leaving Pronabec adrift and who finally ended up assuming political costs.”
“In 2021, Beca 18 offered 5,000 scholarships. In just 4 years and in all that political uncertainty, abruptly increasing it to 20,000 has been unwise on the part of the PRONABEC and MINEDU bureaucracy to give the green light to it. The correct thing would have been to progressively increase the scholarships (an average of 1,000 per year), in order to constantly carry out an evaluation based on the fulfillment of the objectives of said Scholarship. Precisely that has led the MEF to decide that the financing of Beca 18 must be “reevaluated”, which may put at risk a new budget reduction in the next government,” he explained.
