The Finnish Government announced new austerity measures in central government finances on Tuesday 16.4. According to initial information, a large part of the cuts will again affect students in addition to the austerity measures decided last autumn.
“Orpon hallituksen toimet syventävät opiskelijoiden ahdinkoa entisestään. Opiskelijoiden palauttaminen yleisen asumistuen piiristä asumilisän varaan saattaa Suomen ylioppilaskuntien liiton laskelman mukaan heikentää opiskelijan vuosittaista tukea jopa 2 400 eurolla. Nämä ovat todella merkittäviä summia, joilla on konkreettinen vaikutus opiskelijoiden toimeentuloon ja hyvinvointiin. On vaikea nähdä, kuinka hallitus nopeuttaa opiskelijoiden valmistumista näillä päätöksillä. Yhä useamman opiskelijan on toimittava jaksamisensa äärirajoilla turvataaksen vain katon päänsä päällä”, kertoo Taideyliopiston ylioppilaskunnan puheenjohtaja Sara Koiranen.
In addition to changes to students' social security, the Government also announced cuts and policies for different levels of education.
"It is downright shocking how many ways the Finnish study path is being weakened by government decisions. Free secondary education is being phased out, although it has only just begun, no less than EUR 100 million is being cut from vocational education and training, and it is becoming much more difficult to obtain a second qualification. The educational path of an increasing number of Finnish young people is becoming more difficult. Higher education students must also act in solidarity for lower levels of education and demand high-quality education for everyone in Finland," Koiranen continues.
Koiranen sees the weakening as very challenging, especially for art students completing demanding and compulsory attendance studies.
'When you take into account the special characteristics of art studies, such as group work and project-orientedness, which means that you operate within the schedules defined by the school, art students already have less room for manoeuvre, for example, in terms of working alongside their studies. In addition, it should be remembered that absolutely every student should be able to concentrate on studies, and not on survival. I really hope that the student movement will show the current Finnish government that this will not happen to us,' Koiranen says.
TaiYo promotes students' interests as part of the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL). You can read more about transferring students to the housing supplement in the press release of the National Union of University Students in Finland here: https://syl.fi/ei-vittu-taas-syl-tyrmaa-opiskelijoiden-siirron-asumislisaan/
English (UK) 
Suomi 
Svenska