Minister Bruins looks at ‘humane treatment’ of students who break ties with parents

Judges and officials at DUO would be too strict for students who no longer have contact with their parents. Minister Bruins is examining whether he should adjust the rules, he informs the House of Representatives.

Students who have no contact with their parents can sometimes receive a higher supplementary grant. In such cases, there must be a ‘structural conflict’ or ‘untraceable’ parents. DUO then does not consider the income of those parents, which can result in a higher supplementary grant.

However, if DUO refuses the request and it comes to a lawsuit, students usually come off worse, lawyer Job Buiting stated at the end of January. The chair of the student union ISO, Mylou Miché (herself an expert by experience), also urged the minister to make it easier for students with their applications.

Already known

In his response to questions in the House from GroenLinks-PvdA, Minister of Education Eppo Bruins says he is looking into the signals and will return to it before summer. The ministry is currently considering the ‘human scale’ of legislation regarding student finance, and the minister is taking this issue into account.

Some points from Buiting’s article were already known to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), officials write in the accompanying ‘decision note’. However, not all of them. They do not specify which ones are known but are currently investigating how DUO and the judges handle these requests.