“We’re not talking about students who are still in their first or second year. Because they may have time to make up arrears after the crisis. What we’re looking into is students who have been prevented from rounding off their internship or research due to the pandemic. I hope that we can quickly find a solution for this group,” said Van Engelshoven during her appearance on Erasmus TV on Thursday morning.
When asked why there wasn’t a scheme for all students, in compensation for missed education and declining income from part-time jobs, Van Engelshoven didn’t make any bones about it: “We can hardly compensate everything for everyone. Our entire society has been affected. For example, I’ve allocated 320 million to arts & culture, and that won’t be enough to help everyone either. A lot of companies will be going into liquidation. It’s a huge challenge, so we’re focussing on the areas where our help is needed most.”
“What’s more: we want to offer young people a perspective. Once the economy is back in gear, their job prospects will improve too.”
