The price increase this year has been higher than expected and many people have had less purchasing power. Andreas Sjalg Unneland (SV) believes the government must ensure students have increased purchasing power in the next state budget. – The Labor Party and the Center Party voted for the students to have increased purchasing power, now the opposite is happening. If the student grant is not increased, it is a clear breach of promise, says Unneland. He says that this will be an important issue for SV in the negotiations on the national budget in October. – Now we are going to be crystal clear that the student aid will be increased. The students will have increased purchasing power. And in the budget negotiations, we will press the government to deliver on these promises. Political adviser in the Ministry of Education, Signe Bjotveit, writes in an e-mail to news that the students are not the only ones who have felt the rise in prices, but that a larger increase in student aid will be expensive. – This year, many families have lost their purchasing power due to increased prices, it does not just apply to the students. An increase in student aid beyond price adjustment has a significant cost that must be weighed against other important issues, she writes. She continues: – The government has said that we should prioritize students with children, but there are currently no plans for a general increase for everyone. MUST PRIORITIZE: Signe Bjotveit (SP) says that SV will also have to prioritize important issues against each other in the budget negotiations. Photo: The Center Party She will not comment on future budget negotiations or whether student aid is an important issue for the government in the negotiations. The student grant is determined through the state budget. The way it works now, the support is adjusted so that it is approximately in line with the expected price increase during the academic year. This means that in some years the support increases more than the price increase, and in other years it increases less than the price increase. SV wants to change this and link the study grant to the basic amount in the national insurance. This amount is adjusted each year according to salary growth. The study grant will then follow the same fluctuations as the rest of working life. Unneland says that the aim is to increase the student aid to 1.5 times the basic amount (also written as 1.5G) during this parliamentary term. – Where does the money come from for this generous increase? – We believe we have to redistribute more in society. It has been good times for those at the top in Norway. For the first time, the 400 richest are all billionaires. There is not a lack of money in society, there is a lack of justice. There is room to increase taxes for those who have the most, and in that way we can prioritize and expand welfare. The top line shows what the student grant had been in the last 10 years at 1.5 times the basic amount. The bottom one shows the actual basic support that year. This year SV will try to increase the support to 1.3G, or NOK 144,920, which means 12.4 per cent more than the actual support for this year of NOK 128,887. It is more than three times as large an increase as the result in the wage settlement for 2022. – The government should achieve that together with SV, says Unneland. Will invest in housing construction Bjotveit writes that the government has no plans to link student support to the basic amount in national insurance. They would rather focus on building more student accommodation. – We know that one of the things that is most pressing on a student’s finances is the rent, which is why in the future we will prioritize building student housing, writes Bjotveit. – Ensuring that there is affordable accommodation for students is one of the most important things we can do for the student economy, she continues. SV is clear that the government has a responsibility to improve the situation for students. – A left-wing government that has received a clear mandate from the voters must equalize social differences. And those who have promised that they will increase student aid, they have to follow through on this, and we must make sure that they do that, says Unneland
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Will give the students three times more than the salary settlement – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
