I have a friend who is finishing up her schooling and her schooling was funded through student loans. She also had to stretch out the money she was given to live off of. She was told that it would last her the whole school year. That in fact turned out to be false. I know that she will be fine once she gets a job in her field of choice. But until then she doesn't know how she will manage to pay the important stuff. I asked her if she can get some assistance while she is finishing up school. But she said that she can't because she is still finishing up school. I find that to be stupid that she is not allowed to apply for some temporary assistance.
I pose this question to you: If someone who is living on their own and trying to put themselves through school be able to apply for assistance to live? Now I know that you can ask for a living allowance when applying for a student loan. But if that living allowance doesn't give you enough to live off of, than yes they should be allowed for assistance while in school if they so need it. There has to be some criteria so it restricts it to people who TRULY need it.
It's bad enough that there is such a cost associated with getting a post secondary education. But the cost of living on top of that isn't cheap overall. You can try and live as cheaply as possible like my friend was trying to do, but unexpected expenses can come up. So getting some sort of assistance while going to school when you need it needs to be there. Life is going to go on whether you have the money or not. Maybe this is the socialist in me, but if someone is trying to better themselves by going back to school or getting some sort of training, than they need to be allowed to apply for the assistance. I understand that you have may have objections for that fact that it may cost a lot. I will admit that socialism isn't necessarily cheap. But if it's structured in a way that helps those are trying to better themselves than it can work for the most part.
The point of I'm trying to make that being a student isn't cheap. I should know as I went back to school in 2006-007. So it is crucial that they are allowed to apply for assistance when they need it so it helps with living expenses if they are living on their own and whatnot. Going to school will put you in debt and you shouldn't, if you can help it, go into debt because of basic life expenses. I understand that will happen, but worrying about how you will survive day to day when you are worrying about school shouldn't have to be an issue if you were allowed to apply for assistance. If my friend was able to apply for extra assistance while going to school than shouldn't wouldn't necessarily be in the situation. But such as life goes.
Where is it written that a person has to go to school full time even if they don't have money to live on? Why isn't this person working a job and taking classes as they can afford?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hear ya, Chris. While it's true that no one NEEDS to get assistance so they can study full-time, other countries have offered free post-secondary for a long time so it certainly can be done. It would just need to be more of a priority for the country, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, it's definitely possible to work and do school part-time, so I guess that's partly our personal priorities, too.
UncleMeat, it's complicated in terms of her situation with other items in her personal life. It has effected her job which she can't work her usual shifts.
ReplyDeleteMatt, if Canada offered free post secondary education, than a lot more people might try to get an education. But I know that once she gets a job, she will be able to pull through.