Who would save the future of art students?
Cuts are being made from students coping with their daily life and with a broad hand. In particularly vulnerable position are the art students who have remained invisible in the decicion-making. Cuts targeted to students will hit especially hard on art students day-today life and in addition to that the cuts made to culture sector by the Finnish Goverment narrows options for future.
The Finnish government is implementing massive budjet cuts in fields where University of Arts Helsinki carries out special tasks in higher education, i.e. Finnish art and culture. How exhausted and to what kind of a world will the art students graduate into? Kuinka väsyneinä ja millaiseen maailmaan taideopiskelijat tulevat valmistumaan?
In the midst of cuts, art students are losers from all sides. Expensive art studies employ students full-time. From the perspective of higher education studies in the arts, the expectation expressed in many social debates that full-time students are expected to work in addition to their studies is completely absurd. Financial aid is intended for all students to support basic living.
After the change in housing allowance and index freezes, the support for coping with students' everyday life will remain insufficient for art studies. Students are encouraged to take out loans, but the risk of indebtedness is unequally distributed among students, emphasizing the importance of student financial aid in ensuring that university-level art studies, for example, are accessible options regardless of the parents' income level.
The Report on Cultural Policy is circulating for comments and it envisions what is hoped for from the cultural field for 2040. The good ideas painted by the report will remain soft, as the government's cuts will paralyze the cultural field instead of developing it. One key part of envisioning the future of art and culture must not be forgotten: the makers of its future. The studies build professionals into professionals in their field, so long-term investment in art and culture also requires that art students are able to be seen when making decisions.
– Taideyliopiston ylioppilaskunnan hallitus 2024
