If you visit the Federal Ministry of Education and Research on the Internet, you will see it in black and white: "The one-off payment for technical school students and students is coming!" And: “The federal and state governments are intensively preparing a new digital application platform.” The payment of the 200 euros to relieve students in view of the increased prices for energy, food and rent should begin this winter.
The big problem: All of this has been there for months. Since then, not a cent has reached the approximately 3.5 million young people - and that will remain the case for the time being. The Deutsches Studentenwerk had already warned of delays last fall.
Instead, most of the students have a big issue these days: the semester fees at German universities are due. For the bus and train ticket, the student union, the general student committee and the university administration. The amount to be paid differs greatly from region to region. Students at the University of Augsburg have to pay 127.50 euros every six months, while those enrolled at the Leibniz University in Hanover have to pay a whopping 404.12 euros every six months. A one-time payment would probably be just right for the students.
But despite the bold announcements by the federal government, the payment of the aid decided by the Bundestag and Bundesrat in December has been further delayed. "Now we're going to the home straight," said a spokeswoman for the ministry on behalf of Stark-Watzinger this Thursday with the star. She did not give a specific date. 3.5 million beneficiaries have to be patient.
The ministry did not answer the question as to why the one-off payment might not be offset against the semester fees in a less bureaucratic manner. Instead, it pointed out that "new structures are necessary for both the application and the payment". The reason: there has never been a project like this before. The state of Saxony-Anhalt is to provide a joint application platform for students. When will it be? Not clear. They will "take the last legal hurdles promptly," it said. The federal government and other states are ready.
It is therefore still completely unclear when the students will also be relieved by the federal government. As a rule, they are among the poorest financially supported people in the country, which makes the one-off payment all the more urgent.
As early as November, Stark-Watzinger explained on her ministry's website that an implementation was being worked on "at full speed". Three months later, the quote has disappeared there. And another sentence from the FDP politician can also no longer be read there: "We will not leave the young people alone."
Sources: Federal Ministry of Education and Research on one-time payment, press office of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, German Student Union, University of Augsburg, Leibniz University Hanover, DPA news agency
