Student leaders and opposition parties unite to give "wake up call" to Scottish Government (Dumfries Liberal Democrats)

Dumfries Liberal Democrats <tom@therussells.org.uk>

Student leaders and opposition parties unite to give "wake up call" to Scottish Government

April 28, 2009 9:06 AM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Margaret Smith MSP has joined with representatives from the opposition parties at Holyrood and student leaders from across Scotland in a joint call for a new direction from the Scottish Government on student issues.

An open letter has been sent to Fiona Hyslop criticising the SNP Government's actions and stating that it has failed to grasp that student hardship is the overriding priority for students in Scotland.

Mrs Smith has accused Ministers of dumping their promises to Scotland's students and has renewed her call to provide students with a minimum income guarantee.

Commenting, Mrs Smith said:

"The Scottish Government has let students down. The SNP promised to dump the debt, but dumped their promises instead.

"It's time that they focused on what's important to Scotland's students. Many live below the poverty line, which is why Liberal Democrats have championed a minimum income guarantee for students.

"There is now cross party support for making this a reality for the poorest students, which is a good start.

"Scottish Ministers need to wake up to the financial dire straits students are in and take action now."

Ends.