Government is urged to help lift poor students out of hardship

Published on Wednesday 2 September 2009 09:43

OPPOSITION parties will tomorrow urge Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop to use government cash to help combat record levels of student hardship.

Latest figures show 14,386 Scottish university students applied for emergency funds in the past year, including 1,142 at Edinburgh University, 1,005 at Napier, 662 at Heriot-Watt, 448 at Queen Margaret and 408 at Edinburgh College of Art. University hardship funds are also running out of cash and the government has allocated 30 million to improve student support.

However, Lib Dem education spokeswoman Margaret Smith said: "The interest rate on student loans is now zero and you don't have to pay until you're earning 15,000, but there is a real issue in terms of hardship."