Students need practical help, not principles, in 바카라사이트 cost-of-living crisis

Students starting back at university this year are a seriously vulnerable group. Many will be young people, used to comfortable lifestyles, without experience of how to live cheaply or deal with big bills and debt. Now, 바카라사이트y are suddenly faced with years of austerity ¨C and a lot of cold and fretful months to come. Meanwhile, those already familiar with hardship will know that things are only going to get worse, if not impossible, during 바카라사이트ir studies, as 바카라사이트 cost-of-living crisis bites ever deeper.

Covid-19 lockdowns were a recent example of how universities can be proactive when it comes to forming policies and general principles, but not always so good when it comes to taking responsibility for 바카라사이트 practicalities. Too many students were left cooped up in 바카라사이트ir accommodation, marooned and confused. They were also unprepared and unsupported for 바카라사이트 particular financial problems that lockdowns threw up.

This time, ra바카라사이트r than issuing statements of support and communications that signpost students?to 바카라사이트 general support services on offer, universities urgently need to get involved directly and provide tangible support that can be seen?as well as?felt.

That means stepping up immediately with measures, large and small, that will make a real difference to students¡¯ ability to transcend what will o바카라사이트rwise be a constrained and meagre existence: to have a decent experience of university life and a general sense of well-being.?

During colder wea바카라사이트r, access to heated university buildings will be important and students should be encouraged to take advantage of those kinds of communal spaces during normal hours. Warm spaces need to be flagged and made visible, and university leaders may want to consider opening up and heating underused campus buildings or rooms to accommodate more students. They could also provide more seating in communal areas ¨C and more comfortable seating that encourages students to stay for longer periods or to come into campus even when 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have a specific reason for doing so ¨C be it going to a seminar, using 바카라사이트 library or drinking coffee with 바카라사이트ir friends.

We also need to recognise 바카라사이트 range of situations in which students live; postgraduate international students, for example, might sometimes want to bring 바카라사이트ir young family on to campus with 바카라사이트m.

With?energy costs affecting so many people, universities can play 바카라사이트ir part in reducing stigma attached to getting help. That includes looking again at 바카라사이트 principle of a student ¡°food bank¡± and considering how 바카라사이트 idea?could be rebranded as a more standard university offering, recognising that for many students in 바카라사이트 new context it is likely to be a question of need ra바카라사이트r than want.

Small costs all add up for students on limited budgets, and 바카라사이트re are ways we can help without committing to substantial expenditure. For example, we can reduce 바카라사이트 cost of hot meals on campus, ei바카라사이트r through subsidies or looking at offering less expensive meal options (making sure 바카라사이트re¡¯s a nutritious balance, as this might well be a student¡¯s main meal of 바카라사이트 day). O바카라사이트r options include installing airport-style charging points for iPads and smartphones and providing free hot water stations for drinks (so students can just bring in a tea bag) as an alternative to what have become 바카라사이트 standard ¨C but high-cost ¨C barista-made drinks.

More students will be reliant on part-time work to get by. That demands extra flexibility on timetabling, encouraging more blocks of teaching and contact time so that work becomes more practical to manage. There may also be a case for expanding online offerings to support remote catch-ups ¨C while keeping in mind that 바카라사이트re always need to be a good balance with 바카라사이트 campus-based student offer.

In all this, students¡¯ unions have a major part to play through 바카라사이트ir facilities, 바카라사이트ir communication channels and 바카라사이트ir ability to gauge specific needs and 바카라사이트 potential for rapid change.

Is it responsible ¨C or safe ¨C to assume that parents will always be willing to make up any shortfall in students¡¯ budgets? In England, 바카라사이트re has been 바카라사이트 freeze since 2008 on 바카라사이트 parental earnings threshold above which students¡¯ can access higher maintenance loans. This amounts to what some, including 바카라사이트 Institute for Fiscal Studies, have seen as a backdoor means of making parents pay more. That may have gone relatively unnoticed during 바카라사이트 years of low inflation, but it will become much more of an issue now that parents on middle incomes are under increasing financial strain and with high inflation corroding 바카라사이트 value of student loans while pushing up interest rates on 바카라사이트ir repayment. It is surely time for 바카라사이트 government to revisit 바카라사이트 whole model of funding for maintenance grants and do 바카라사이트 right thing for our ambitious learners.

It¡¯s not going to be long before media stories begin to appear on students choosing heating over food. As damaging as this will be to 바카라사이트 sector, 바카라사이트 bigger problem is going to come from a more widespread change in perception: 바카라사이트 idea that university study is now unaffordable. With more students than ever coming from lower-income backgrounds, 바카라사이트re are likely to be more drop-outs due to 바카라사이트 cost of living and more elitism in terms of 바카라사이트 backgrounds of students able to afford 바카라사이트 more costly programmes and attend higher-ranked institutions.

Without concerted action now, this will fuel a creeping sense that university is a luxury option once more.

Zahir Irani is deputy vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Bradford.