All students participating in the direct exchange programme offered by the University of Malta will get the €300 grant a month financed by government as stated in June, the Education Ministry said.

Referring to a statement by student organisation Pulse, which said that students in the programme still did not know if they weregoing to benefit from the financial assistance promised by the government,the ministry said the claim was uncalled for and a fiction of the imagination "of this Labour-leaning organisation".

The ministry said that 224 applicants for the programme had already been accepted by foreign universities.

From those who applied to go in the first semester, only 14 applications were still pending because the foreign universities had not yet given approval.

This could be because most universities wereclosed for holidays. Despite this, the International Office at the University of Malta was doing its utmost to find suitable placements for these students.

Any queries on this subject should be addressed to the University International Office, the ministry said.