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The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Team
Closed petition PE2036: Write off student loan debts for paramedic students
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to write off student loan debts incurred by Paramedic Science students before the current bursary was introduced.
Previous action taken
I have been dealing with Mairi Gougeon MSP’s constituency office, who wrote to the Scottish Government and was advised that they would not be able to write off any of these loans. I was then advised by her office that a petition would be the next step. This has also been discussed with the Scottish Government via my local councillor with no resolution. My councillor received a reply stating this will not happen.
Background information
Following a long campaign, Paramedic Science students have, since 2021, been receiving a bursary totalling £30,000 over three years. However, no provision for compensation or backdating of payments was provided for students who had enrolled on the course before 2021 and had taken out student loans. Large amounts of money are being deducted from our pay every month. We worked on a low income of around £4,000 to £6,000 a year, working through the pandemic. The current students receive a £10,000 per year and are not left with debt at the end of their studies. We feel left out as a group and penalised for studying this course before the bursary was introduced. We would like these student loan debts to be written off, creating parity with our peers who now receive a bursary.
This petition was considered by the Scottish Parliament
299 signatures