Call on youth to fight against abolition of “student package”

 

Statement by Christos Christophides, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 15th January 2015, Nicosia

 

The government policy of dismantling the welfare state is continuing. This time the victim is a particularly vulnerable section of the population, that is to say our students.

The government and ruling forces, once again promoting together with the Troika anti-social measures without any dialogue with the affected parties, are abolishing the targeted “Student Package” of €3.2 million, while setting new criteria which are expected to exclude hundreds of current beneficiaries of the student welfare aid. The sole purpose and objective of the government of Anastasiades-DISY party is to impose cuts and the dismantling of state student aid, at a time when our students are abandoning their studies due to financial problems and when state student support should be boosted.

The “Student Package” which had been established by the previous government aimed at providing support to students from lower income groups and vulnerable social strata in absolutely essential areas such as meals, the acquisition of a computer and others. Today the government is abolishing the package despite denying the accusations made by both of AKEL and the student movement over the last two years about the machinations to abolish it. The government is now replacing the “Student Package” with a considerably smaller amount of financial support.

The government are also reducing the level of property value making a family eligible for a student grant from €1.2 million to just 500,000 in today’s value, including of course the immovable property too. Hundreds of students, whose families today may not have an income, are in danger of being excluded from the grant because they may just have a simple privately-owned house and a piece of land.

We totally oppose the government’s plans and call on society to fight against the new government attack on the young generation of our country and society.