The future of the SU has regularly been up for debate. Business organizations and often blue politicians have regularly discussed whether it should be cut or whether part of the support could be converted into loans.
Now there is renewed support for that idea.
The think tank Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (AE) proposes in Dagbladet Børsen that the master’s SU should be converted into an interest-free loan.
Lars Andersen, the think tank’s director, calls the newspaper an opportunity to make it more attractive to take a vocational education and get more skilled hands.
It is estimated that it will be able to save 2.3 billion kroner that can be used elsewhere.
– It can be an interest-free loan, and then you can use the money you save on paying out SU to raise the quality of education elsewhere in education systems, including in relation to educating more skilled workers, says the AE director to Børsen.
And several unions are backing. FOA, 3F and Dansk Metal are ready to look into the matter.
However, not everyone is equally happy with the idea of making part of the SU loan-based. Djøf Studerende’s chairman, Rasmus Pilegaard, points out that the proposal will create more debt among young people.
Djøf is a professional organization for social science and economic academics.
– Just as we experience that there is a shortage of manpower in the form of skilled workers, so there is also a lack of highly specialized employees, including among the social sciences academics, says Rasmus Pilegaard, chairman of Djøf Studerende, to Ritzau.
– The last few years we have seen that the SU debt has exploded. I do not think we should indebt the youth. Instead, we must ensure equal opportunities throughout our education system
There is also no joy in tracing at the Danish Students’ Joint Council, on the contrary. Front person Mike Gudbergsen points out that many already default on SU debt.
Therefore, no more debt should be created, he believes.
– We think it’s a really bad idea.
– Basically, our reading of it is that we have a pretty big problem in advance in that young people are forced to take out SU loans during their study period, says the front person.
Mike Gudbergsen also does not believe that there is much evidence that the model would get more people to take a vocational education.
– Instead of gambling with young people’s livelihoods in a period where they are students, I think one must recognize that it is the long cool move to create a culture where it is just as attractive to take a vocational education .
In Norway and Sweden, a larger part of the SU is loan-based than in Denmark. In Norway, students can get some of the loan repaid if they pass their course on time.
The former V-Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who is now a non-attached member and has founded the party Moderaterne, is one of those who has spoken out in favor of changing the Danish SU model. He has also tried his hand at pruning – but in vain.
It is different with the red parties. At the end of September, the Unity List proposed that the SU should generally be raised by DKK 1,000 per month.
Source: The Nordic Page