Green Party MP Kim Buyst believes the cuts to higher education are completely wrong. “Studying is already difficult enough; it shouldn’t create additional financial worries. Many young people already struggle to access higher education because it’s too expensive, and that threatens to get much worse. Cutting back on education means cutting back on the future of young people and on that of Flanders.” Buyst urges Minister Demir to reconsider the cuts.
“While there’s a need for more student grants, Minister Demir is already taking away at least 3,800 students’ grants and future prospects, and that figure threatens to be much higher. I really don’t understand that,” Buyst responded. “Students over 30, people who want to further their education or retrain to improve their chances on the job market, will certainly be completely left out by the cuts. This measure is entirely in line with Minister Demir’s earlier, tough decision to make adult education much more expensive,” says Buyst. “And that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg.”
Groen
The requirement to take significantly more credits to qualify for a grant is also very disadvantageous for people who combine studies with a job. Many students who also work often don’t take a full academic year, but rather split it up. This is also often the case for people with disabilities or who are caregivers, for example.
Moreover, the cuts come on top of previous cuts that higher education has already had to absorb in recent years. In 2008, concrete agreements were made about the financing of higher education, but successive Flemish governments failed to honor them. As a result, higher education has already lost hundreds of millions of euros in budgets to which it is entitled. On top of that, these additional cuts are now being added, which not only affect universities and colleges, but also directly affect students.
“Today, we have a government with parties that care nothing about our young people, about education, or about the future. They demonstrate this in black and white with their education policy. This is a completely irresponsible and wrong choice. The only right decision that can be made now is to reverse this policy,” Buyst concludes.
