WHY WE HATE THE POLICE - page 5
› Andr ow Berry Students are getting poorer every year. More and more young people are turning to education or further training of some kind to escape from the dole queue or from low-paid, boring jobs. But at what cost? During the late 1980s the Torles removed all entitlements to state benefits for most stu dents on full-time courses. Around the same time they scrapped fair rents. Average student rents in many clties have doubled since 1985, while income has fallen sharply before inflation Is even taken into account. The NUS has estimated that undergraduates on a full grant and student loan receive around £10 less per week than unemployed people aged 18-24. Average student debt levels are well over £2,000, increasing to nearly £5,000 for students aged 22-26. Many students work during term-time to make ends meet, or these figures would probably be far higher. The number of students dropping out because of financial problems or difficulties finding time to study because of their jobs is also rising. Yet, these students are better off than those who receive no grant at all, because their local authority has refused them a grant for the course they are doing, or because parents won't or can't make the full parental contribu... tion required of them. Part-time work of the kind students do is generally poorly paid. But some students, vocational bour-force. trainees, are used as a free or very cheap la One such group is student nurses. In London they recelve £327 a month, with no housing benefit or student loan. For this they have to work all hours, with no extra money. Any training Is strictly on the job. Expectations of thirdyear Project 2000 nurses are the same as those of a member of staff. They are held fully accountable for their actions, but not as entitled to full wages for their work. Students and vocational 'trainees' of all kinds deserve better than this. The National Union of Students must fight for grants which meet the cost of living for all students. Trade unions should also take up the Issue of 'trainees' seriously, fighting for better training, real wages for those doing real jobs, and the right for all workers in a workplace to organise around working conditions. Unfortunately, so far mass protest hasn't been key to the NUS strategy. Rather than waiting for the NUS leadership, students must organise to fight for their own rights to financial support.