The report of the working group preparing the overall reform of student financial aid that was submitted to the minister today determines the right direction for the reform of student financial aid and gives Orpo’s government the starting points for fixing the student financial aid system after students have been heavily targeted in cuts. National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences, SAMOK, and the National Union of University Students in Finland, SYL, find a lot of encouraging and good things in the report, even though it also includes some suggestions that raise questions.
The report takes a positive view on linking parts of student financial aid to an index and increasing the level of the study grant, extending the support period and improving the security of the student loan. These are solutions to problems that both SAMOK and SYL have emphasised in recent years.
“Year after year, students have had to endure the increasingly painful deterioration in the purchasing power of study grants and the increase in student loans. Each student has more than one friend whose financial aid ends before they graduate. These problems require solutions, and the working group’s observations are a step in the right direction,” says Taru Kyllönen, a member of the board of SAMOK.
SAMOK and SYL point out that this student financial aid reform is being implemented at a time when students are the group of people most affected by social security cuts (p. 27), student indebtedness has multiplied over the last decade, and when cuts to the student housing support will increase rental prices in the coming years. The results of a recent study on the health of higher education students indicate that the situation of students is bleak and that they rely more and more on loans to cover the cost of living.
SAMOK and SYL encourage the government to take the reform of student financial aid seriously and to base the final solution on understanding and cooperation with the students. The working group memo cannot be left to gather dust in the archives.
“A good reform is a sustainable reform. The system must remain functional far into the future. Therefore, the reform must include index-linked nature of benefit payments and elements that secure student loans. The reform will also require investments. Without additional money, each action to fix the situation would have painful repercussions when savings would have to be made elsewhere. We do not want to sow more problems elsewhere by fixing these problems,” says Maria Saita, a member of the board of SYL.
Although the working group’s report shows the right direction, its work has been limited by a tight schedule and the requirement of cost neutrality. The working group did not have time to examine all the proposals in depth, and a large number of issues were left to be resolved in further preparation work.
SAMOK and SYL now appeal to Orpo’s government and Sandra Bergqvist, the current Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity, and Mika Poutala, the next Minister, to identify the needs raised by students and the report and to continue searching for solutions. SAMOK and SYL consider that, in order to achieve a good reform, there is a need for more funding for student financial aid in the central government spending limits, even though this is difficult in the current economic situation.
The full report of the working group is available here.
Further information:
Julia Väänänen
President of the board, SAMOK
050 389 1000
[email protected]
Maria Saita
Board member, SYL
044 906 5004
[email protected]