The matter in summary: • Student leaders are reacting to students struggling to get home for Christmas due to high travel costs.• Leader of the Norwegian Student Organization (NSO), Oline Sæther, believes that student aid should be increased by approx. NOK 40,000 a year to ensure education for everyone in Norway.• Student leaders at UiB and UiO are concerned that poor finances create big differences among students.• Leader of the student council at NTNU, Morten Eidsvaag Althe, calls for better predictability around exam dates. Then some students will have time to plan their journey well in advance and cheaper. • State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel, says there are no plans to introduce a separate travel grant for students who study far from home, but that the government has taken steps to make it easier and cheaper to travel in Norway. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Students despair over the price of tickets home for the Christmas holidays. Earlier, news told about 21-year-old Camilla Holst from Svolvær who pays twice as much for the plane ticket home for Christmas as what she would pay for a weekend trip to London. – If I’m going home for Christmas, it will quickly be NOK 5,500 round trip, she said. This causes the leaders of the student parliaments and the leader of the Norwegian Student Organization to react. Thinks the government is not keeping its promises The head of the Norwegian Student Organization (NSO), Oline Sæther, believes that the student aid is the most important tool we have to ensure education for everyone in Norway. Oline Sæther is head of the Norwegian Student Organization. Photo: Skjalg Bøhmer Vold Instead of different support schemes for different needs, such as a travel grant, Sæther believes that a general increase in student support is a better alternative. NSO believes that the student grant should be increased by approximately NOK 40,000 a year from the current level. – This will ensure that the students have the opportunity to go home for Christmas, find housing and choose study programs that are not available across the country. When the government presented next year’s state budget, a continuation of the current level of support was proposed. – They do not follow through on promises to ensure equal right to education, regardless of finances and family situation. Sæther thinks that is stupid, because education is a fundamental tool for leveling differences in Norway. – About equal right to education Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak is leader of the student parliament at UiB. She is worried that education will become inaccessible to more people if the politicians continue to deprioritize the student economy. Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak is leader of the student parliament at the University of Bergen. Photo: Truls Skram Lerø – We think it is sad that economics should create big differences between us students when it is already tight. – It should not depend on your parents’ finances whether you get to celebrate Christmas with them. A travel grant will make it possible for more people to go home for Christmas, without having to live on noodles for the whole of December. Hovdenak says that it is well known that students struggle to cover high expenses, whether it is the plane ticket home for Christmas or an unexpected dental bill. Therefore, she believes that the elected representatives must focus on increasing student aid. – However, when this is not done, we have to look at other solutions to ease the pressure. It shouldn’t be a burden to be from or study in Northern NorwayDeputy leader of the student parliament at UiT, Rolf Erik Forseth, believes that students with a certain distance from home who have to travel to smaller airports should get a travel grant to be able to go home for Christmas. Forseth believes that Holst’s situation is very unfortunate. He talks about students who choose to celebrate Christmas at the place of study because they cannot afford the journey home, and families cannot necessarily afford to pay for it either. – One suggestion could be to introduce a travel grant in the same way as the electricity grant was introduced. – Especially at a time when the student aid is not sufficient and students are in the red every month after all expenses. He adds that it should not be an extra large burden for students to live or study in the North -Norway. Therefore, he hopes that the politicians look more towards the north, so that it will be easier to be a student in northern Norway in the long term. – With such a district-friendly government as it is today, we hope that they see the value of helping students who are going home for Christmas, both to and from the districts. Leader of the student parliament at UiO, Elisabeth Hoksmo Olsen, says it is sad that not all students can afford to go home as often as they would like. – Like everyone else, students have a need to meet family and other close ones. It is an extra pity when we know that students struggle a lot with loneliness. Elisabeth Hoksmo Olsen is leader of the Student Parliament at the University of Oslo. Photo: Emil Kvebæk Øvretveit Olsen says that while prices in society are increasing, the purchasing power of students is decreasing. – Increased student support is the only measure that ensures that no one is left out, and that ensures the principle of equal right to education. A separate scholarship scheme for students who live a certain distance from home, however, she believes is difficult to calculate. Need for better predictability around exam dates – What makes this issue difficult is that the ordinary exam periods often go well into December and are close to Christmas. This means that the student often has few choices and few possible travel choices. That’s what the leader of the student parliament at NTNU, Morten Eidsvaag Althe, says. Morten Eidsvaag Althe is leader of the NTNU student parliament. Photo: Sondre Olav Sivertsen / NTNU He believes that the students should have the opportunity to plan their journey home well in advance. – Today, more students experience that exam dates come late or change during the semester – there is a need for better predictability. – A longitudinal assessment throughout the semester will be able to ease the pressure on examination performance, so that fewer students have to travel during the busiest periods, with the highest travel costs. Althe adds that in times of increased living costs, students, as a vulnerable group in our society, have a more unpredictable everyday life where they struggle to make ends meet. – No one should have to fear celebrating Christmas alone in the study city, away from family and friends. No plans for a separate travel grant as of now State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel, says it is a shame to hear about students struggling to get home for Christmas. – We know that it can be expensive for many to travel in our long country. That is why this government has taken major steps to make it easier and cheaper to travel from A to B throughout Norway Hoel says the government started by reducing ferry prices, and eventually made the ferries free in many places. State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel, says it is sad to hear about students struggling to get home for Christmas. Photo: Ragne B. Lysaker In addition, almost NOK 2 billion has been proposed to strengthen the flight offer in next year’s state budget. – The light rail network is an important part of public transport in the districts, and therefore we will both strengthen the route offer and reduce ticket prices for people who want and have to travel to the districts, including students who want to go home for Christmas. The government has also increased the student loan by 7 per cent from autumn 2023, and students will receive NOK 9,000 more. – It is the biggest increase in 15 years. – I still understand that high travel costs are challenging for some students, but as of now there are no plans to introduce a separate student grant earmarked for travel. Hoel therefore thinks it is good that different airlines offer their own student tickets at a good price. Lånekassen refers to the Ministry of Education when news contacts them regarding the matter.
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Camilla Holst pays dearly for the trip home for Christmas and student leaders demand increased study support – news Nordland
