Expensive rent, increased food prices and other living costs mean that many people living away from home choose to work while attending school. – There is not much time for social activities when you have to spend almost all your free time at work. Susanne Sjursen (18) from Havøysund thinks so. She has moved to Alta to go to upper secondary school (VGS) and has gotten to know what it is like to live away from home both financially and socially. To get things going, Susanne works at the Alta care center. She says there will be long days and little time to spare. This means that she has several difficult days. – As a resident, I have known that it can be a bit tough. I’m doing well and I’m very happy at work, but I really have to choose whether to prioritize work, friends or school. Susanne Sjursen has been living away for almost 3 years, she previously lived in the student accommodation at Alta VGS, but now lives on her own. Photo: Johan Isak Niska / news – No one can live on today’s stipend According to figures from the Student Association, there are approximately 24,000 people living abroad in Norway. Like Susanne, many people have to work after school to make ends meet. The student organization will now change this. They demand that students living away should receive NOK 12,000 a month. This is a minimum, believes Aleksander Husby, leader of the Student Organization. – No expatriate in Norway can live on NOK 4,979 per month. Pupils should be pupils, they should not have to worry about their wallets, he says. Leader of the Student Organization, Aslak Berntsen Husby agrees that it can quickly become a bit stressful if the current arrangement continues. A student in upper secondary school should not be worried about finances. Photo: Hannah Baarøy / Student organization State Secretary Sindre Lysø (Ap) agrees with Husby and has therefore chosen to prioritize this in the proposal for next year’s state budget. – We have chosen to make a historic increase in the non-resident stipend in the state budget for 2023, here we are choosing to increase the stipend by NOK 660 a month. The State Secretary believes this increase will be a good step in the right direction when prices and expenses are increasing. Photo: Jens Driveklepp But it is far too small, says Husby. – Residents living away live on a stipend that barely covers the rent. Lysø says the resident’s grant will cover the extra costs of moving away from home, but it is still expected that the guardian will cover the young person’s expenses. – You must be able to expect that there is an interaction between the money you get from the scholarship that covers housing costs and that you then get the money it costs to live as a young person at upper secondary school. The student council is on the move Husby in the Student Organization hopes that a larger increase in the grant can free the students to be more social. The student council at Alta VGS also works with this. Student council leader Magnus Laaksonen explains that they are in dialogue with the school about having activities after school. Student council leader Magnus Laaksonen. Photo: Johan Isak Niska / news Laaksonen believes it is also important to create a meeting place. – We want the residents and pupils to get together and get to know each other, so we have now been in dialogue with the headmaster about having a film night or other activities at the school in the afternoon. So that those who may not know many people can meet here. Susanne Sjursen says she is very pleased that such measures can be implemented. She believes it can help to make people not fall outside. – The fact that you are now trying to achieve something more social for those who live in the student residences is good. Because if you don’t have someone to spend your free time with, it will quickly become empty.
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Pupils living away have to work after school – do not get time for socialization – news Troms and Finnmark
