The case in summary: • Students with disabilities receive an additional grant, but according to the Norwegian Student Organization they still run a deficit of NOK 2,000 each month.• Students cannot work in the months they receive the additional grant, which can lead to financial challenges.• The Norwegian Student Organization believes that the current arrangement violates the principle of equal right to higher education, and calls on the government to increase student support.• The government has increased support for all students, including the additional grant for disabled people, but the Norwegian Student Organization believes it is not enough. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Master’s student Henriette Ryeng Davidsen has dyslexia and therefore needs more time for her studies. As a student with a reduced functional capacity, she receives an additional grant of just over NOK 4,000 extra per month. Despite the additional grant and help from her parents, she is struggling to make the budget go up. – It comes at the expense of a lot, perhaps social life is the worst, but also going to the doctor or dentist. You push it out as far as you can. – The studies themselves are a 120 percent job, at least in my case, says Henriette about studying with dyslexia. Photo: Marita Andersen / news Davidsen receives the additional grant 11 months a year. The rules state that she cannot work in the months she receives extra money. She has considered cutting off the additional grant and rather work to improve the economy, but that would come at the expense of studies, a social life and her voluntary work as a student politician. – The biggest consequence is that I wouldn’t have been able to perform as well at school, and it would be a bit silly that I can’t have a further academic career if I have to opt out of my studies for work. Not hanging on In the previous academic year, there were 13,935 students who received additional support. Even with this supplement, they will lose around NOK 2,000 a month, according to the Norwegian Student Organization. – We have a system that is really rigged so that they won’t make it, says head of Norway’s student organisation, Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak. Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak, Leader of the Norwegian Student Organization (NSO) Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / news Hovdenak believes that students who receive the additional grant are in an impossible situation where those who are entitled to an additional grant may be forced to renounce it and rather work for to make ends meet. The government has previously stated that students must be prepared to work alongside their studies. State Secretary in the Ministry of Knowledge Ivar Prestbakmo has previously said that students can gain valuable experience by working alongside their studies. Photo: Fathia Mahmoud Farah / news In an e-mail to news, State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Ivar B. Prestbakmo (SP) writes: “The government has delivered a sharp increase in support for all students. Since this government took office in 2021, the students from the next academic year have received more than NOK 25,000 more per year. It is a historically good investment in students. In the last academic year, we have raised all loan and grant rates in the Lånekassen by 7 per cent, including the additional grant for disabled people by 10 per cent.” Hovdenak criticizes the response of the government and Prestbakmo. – What about those of us with additional scholarships? We do not get enough, and we are not allowed to work. It doesn’t really matter, she says. Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak believes that the students who receive the additional grant fall between two chairs. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / Jonas Been Henriksen The Norwegian student organization believes that the scheme today violates the principle of equal right to higher education, and asks the government to increase student support. The full-time student – We have to restore the full-time students. That’s what SV politician Mona Mørk says. She criticizes Prestbakmo and the government, and says that many students cannot work alongside their studies for a number of reasons, such as disability. Mona Mørk (SV) criticizes Prestbakmo’s statement. – What Prestbakmo is setting out here is a very A4 view of how a student should be. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / news – Perhaps you are studying a particularly hard course, or that you have to concentrate 100 per cent on your studies. We cannot have it so that you have to depend on your parents’ wallet for whether or not you will choose to study in Norway. I think that would be completely reprehensible. Therefore, Mørk will further increase the study support and the additional grant. – We must be able to organize the studies so that everyone has the opportunity to study. And you should be able to do that whether you have a disability or not. Skipping birthdays Henriette has made a choice to make use of the additional grant and prioritize her studies, but she finds it awkward to have to say no to social activities. – Having to say no to friends that I can’t join the party because I don’t have money. Fortunately, I have good friends, so they just say ‘get over it, we’ll sort it out’. Davidsen always sets aside money from the large grant for a “crisis fund”. Photo: Marita Andersen / news Henriette thinks things would have been even tighter financially if she had studied elsewhere. In Horten, she pays just over 5,000 in rent, electricity and internet included. – I am lucky there again, but I do know of students in Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim and Kristiansand who cannot live with the Students’ Association and then it will always be expensive on the private market. Published 08/08/2024, at 16.50
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The Norwegian student organization demands higher support for students with disabilities – news Troms and Finnmark
