Students' financial security is crucial to not only creating a strong knowledge society. It is crucial to creating an equal one. Sweden's current and future students are worth every investment. Being able to focus wholeheartedly on our studies means that we can all give so much more back to society in the long run.
On Sunday, new initiatives were presented for the student grant. From 1 July next year, the grant component will be increased by 300 kronor per month. This is the first increase in the grant in 11 years. The increase of 300 kronor is also in line with the amount of 326 kronor that SFS was able to show in February that an average student is losing money each month with current student grants. An increase of 300 kronor thus generally means that Sweden's students' finances are going around to a greater extent. However, it is important to remember that while the increase is welcome, there are students who have significantly higher costs than those we presented in this spring's student budget. Living costs and rents differ significantly depending on the place of study, which means that many students will still lose money despite the increase. In order to enable equal opportunities to take part in higher education, it is therefore important to take action on a broad front.
In addition to the amount of the study grant, in our opinion the balance between grants and loans also affects the possibility of studying. Currently, the grant part is 2848 SEK per month and together with the loan, the student support comes to 10,016 SEK. The change means that the grant will constitute 30.5% instead of the current 28.5%. SFS has long been pushing the issue of a better balance between loan and grant parts precisely so that more people will see higher education as a real alternative. These are the thresholds we want to reduce and the investment in the budget is only a step in the right direction. However, achieving a balance between loans and grants is not the only change we see as pressingly linked to the system.
Swedish higher education has changed, but the student finance system has not kept up with the development. With the European Bologna Process, education programs in Sweden became longer and many are now five years. Despite this, the number of years eligible for study grants is still limited to six with the possibility of extending by one year for special reasons. This limits the possibilities to start other education during or after a degree has been started. The needs in society are changing at an ever faster pace, which means that the opportunity for lifelong learning and further education is becoming increasingly important. This possibility should not be limited by the study grant.
Today, the right to student loans is limited at the age of 47. For each year thereafter, the number of weeks you have the opportunity to receive student aid decreases until the year you are 57 years old, when you are no longer eligible for student aid. If Sweden is to be a knowledge society that takes lifelong learning seriously, these restrictions should be removed and people should be allowed to educate themselves and further their education with student aid until retirement. The fact that some students do not have the same opportunities and right to support as others will eventually become a form of age discrimination.
The right to receive compensation when you are sick should be linked to employment and studies and not to financing your studies in a specific way. In the current system, students' ability to get health insurance is linked to taking out student loans. There have been proposals from the government to protect the income that qualifies for sickness benefits while studying, but this assumes that you have worked before starting to study. In other words, there is still a lot on the government's to-do list to ensure all students' right to health insurance and guarantee a safe period of study.
The government, parliament and above all society must never forget what an investment students are. We emphasize: Being able to focus wholeheartedly on our studies means that regardless of when in life we dare, can and want to study and then contribute to a stronger society.