– I thought it was enough to just live on Lånekassen when I moved to Bergen, but I was wrong. Mathias Skard Almaas (23) had a very tough encounter with student life when he went to Bergen to study comparative politics. – I ended up losing 12 kilos in just four months. I only got one or two meals a day, he says of the meager first semester. The poor economy robbed Mathias Skard Almaas of the energy and focus he needed in his studies. Photo: Hallgeir Aunan / news – I considered dropping out and going home. You have to have food to study, he adds. Lise Lyngsnes Randeberg is acting head of the employee organization Akademikerne. She is concerned about the consequences of the government’s proposal for a new working environment act. – The proposal could lead to more students dropping out, says Randeberg. The government wants to legislate a “full-time norm” in working life. They will also introduce a documentation and discussion obligation for employers who wish to employ someone in a part-time position. Leader of Akademikerne, Lise Lyngsnes Randeberg, supports the principle of full-time positions, but believes the government’s changes will hit the students far too hard. Photo: Margret Helland / news Many students depend on a part-time job to get the wheels turning. The academics wonder how they will fare if it becomes more difficult for employers to hire someone in a part-time position. In the worst case, students without support from home will not be able to afford to continue their studies, warns Randeberg. Norwegian full-time students work an average of approximately 9 hours a week, according to a survey by Eurostudent. Figures from Statistics Norway show that an increasingly large proportion of students’ income comes from paid work. – We are in a situation where the student aid is not enough to live on. And not all students can get financial help from home. Then they are completely dependent on having a part-time job, and the government must not make it more difficult, says Randeberg. Loans and grants from Lånekassen are far from enough for most students. Photo: Lånekassen The Norwegian student organization has made calculations which say that a student who only lives on student loans and grants loses approximately NOK 5,400 every month. Students without financial support from home are therefore often completely dependent on a part-time job to make ends meet. – It is very unlikely that it would make it more difficult to work part-time, Almaas believes. The academics agree and believe that the new bill does not secure the right to voluntary part-time work well enough. – It becomes a paradox when the government comes up with a proposal that aims to strengthen workers’ rights, but which contributes to reducing students’ opportunities, says Randeberg. The government disagrees with the criticism – Lack of full-time culture is a major problem in parts of the public and private sector, and it particularly affects women, writes Maria Schumacher Walberg (Ap), state secretary in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in an email. Over several days, everyone in the political leadership of the Ministry of Labor and Inclusion was unavailable for a TV interview with news. Photo: Ministry of Labor and Inclusion. She writes that the government wants permanent, full-time positions to be the main rule in Norwegian working life. At the same time, the new bill ensures the right to voluntary part-time work, according to the state secretary. – In the proposal put forward by the government, it is also proposed to give part-time employees preferential rights to “extra shifts and the like”. In that way, a part-time job for a student could be perceived as more secure than without this proposal, writes Walberg. The student economy is getting tighter In the last year, price growth in Norway has been 6.8 per cent. Food, electricity and rent will become more expensive. At the same time, the support rates for the Lånekassen for the academic year 2022-2023 were set at two per cent. NOK 11,717 is NOK 230 more per month than last school year. A two percent increase in student aid means poorer students, points out the head of the Norwegian Student Organization, Maika Godal Dam. Photo: Skjalg Bøhmer Vold / NSO – Today’s students get worse and worse advice, and our purchasing power is decreasing. The student grant does not cover absolutely necessary expenses. We fear that the economy will be decisive for whether someone chooses to study or not, says Maika Godal Dam, head of the Norwegian Student Organisation. 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. 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. Photo: Senterpartiet For Mathias, the rescue was therefore his parents at home in Asker – and a job at Doctors Without Borders. – When the pandemic came, I went home and got food there, and when I came back I luckily got a part-time job. I finally got the finances going. He continues: – Students are students, first and foremost, so the student aid should go up. The purpose of working part-time should primarily be to gain useful experience on the CV – not to survive. The part-time job has finally given Mathias Skard Almaas an income to live on. That the study job is relevant to the education should be the main reason for taking the job, he believes. Photo: Hallgeir Aunan / news
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The academics fear that the new working environment law will destroy the students – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
