Students call for increased grant

STUDENT movements are calling for an immediate increase in student grants.

The youth organisations of DISY, AKEL, EDEK and DIKO have joined forces to protest the fact that the grant has remained the same for years, while the cost of living is continuously increasing.

The Confederation of Cyprus Workers (SEK) has also issued an announcement stressing the need for an increase in student grants, as a measure to reinforce family budgets.

According to the head of AKEL affiliated movement Proodeftiki, Constantinos Stylianou, the Cyprus Students Unions Federation’s demand is unanimous.

“The student grant of £1,000 is the students’ most significant achievement, which was attained after a long battle,” said Stylianou. “Today we are all demanding an expansion of this grant, which was part of the government’s pre-election programme.”

The spokesman of DISY’s Protoporia, Christos Papamichael, added: “Due to the long time that has elapsed since the grant’s establishment and the changes that have taken place since then in the Cyprus economy, we believe the amount of the grant fails to correspond to today’s students’ needs.”

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