Coronavirus in Scotland: John Swinney announces a further £30m support for students and universities
£20 million of this will provide further hardship support for students across Scotland – including students who are having to pay rent on properties they currently cannot occupy.
The remaining £10m will be used to help colleges and universities which have lost revenue –for example, if they have refunded rents for accommodation which is not being used.
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Hide AdSpeaking at Parliament today, the education secretary said the pandemic has caused additional financial difficulties for students and gave the example that many students who were reliant on part time jobs, have found themselves out of work.
He also noted that the the on-going restrictions around student accommodation are causing difficulties for students and educational institutions.
Mr Swinney said: “We are hugely grateful to our students and our educational institutions for the way in which they are co-operating with us, and helping us to tackle Covid.
"We hope that this support will help them to manage, as they do that.”
Mr Swinney also said today that universities and colleges’ ‘staggered return’ in Scotland is currently ‘in review’.
The news comes after the health secretary announced that no changes have been made to restrictions across Scotland and current measures will remain in place ‘until at least the middle of February.’
The education secretary noted that recent coronavirus figures should provide some ‘cautious confidence’ that lockdown restrictions in Scotland are beginning to have an effect in controlling the virus, however, noted commented that case numbers still remain ‘far too high'.