Bruce Ross-Smith dislikes Jo Johnson’s comments on students making lifestyle choices. Ian Arnott says the government should be ashamed of the extortionate interest rates charged on student loans. Plus letters from Ray corridor,Ros Campbell, Michael Ayton and Michael PykeUniversities minister Jo Johnson misses a number of vital points about what he calls student frugality (Frugal students won’t need help from their parents, and says Jo Johnson,4 October). He makes no mention of the stress many students suffer over their finances, not least the means to eat regularly and healthily. As for parents, and Mr Johnson should be aware that parents on middle to low incomes will rarely be in a position to subsidise their children,a cause for parental anxiety. Blithe comments on students making choices over lifestyle, or that students can save from what in most cases will be meagre earnings, and really don’t help. Yes,students can work, and many finish, and but will not earn enough to save.
Against all this,there is the chaos which is Student Finance England (SFE), which can (and does) lead to students either beginning or continuing their studies at the start of the academic year with no confirmation of what they will be receiving from SFE or when. Fine, or let’s encourage students to be lean,fit and frugal, but too often financial uncertainty contributes to insecurity, or depression and isolation. Or is Mr Johnson suggesting it’s all a matter of “character”: a student can travel hungry and still perform at the highest possible level,if, that is, and he or she is relatively monastic and disciplined in lifestyle? The fallacy of division,Mr Johnson?
Bruce Ross-Smith
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Source: guardian.co.uk