When Erasmus means destitution

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]y now, it’s no secret that ERASMUS+ students at universities across the country have suffered thanks to problems with the new grant system. It’s been no different at Warwick. In fact, as I write this, students have been waiting for the money since the start of November, and they won’t get it until 5 December. To put that into perspective, we were originally told to expect the grant at the end of October, and it’s been continually pushed back since then.

Admittedly, I’ve got a great support network, so I’ve just been able to survive the month – it’s not been great, but it’s not poverty. That being said, it’s not a hand-out. It’s a loan, and I’ll be paying it back using the grant and my SFE loans. But I know students who aren’t so lucky and have had to go without basics. Some have even faced eviction threats.

As the British Council released an updated statement telling us that 20 universities would be receiving the grant on the 17th of November, we all waited for Warwick to share the good news. But everyone remained silent. E-mails went unanswered and the Facebook page was ignored. It was only for a couple of days, but when you’re getting by on 5 euro that’s a long time. Finally, on Thursday, we were told that we’d be waiting for another 3 weeks.

The money we’ll get in December won’t even technically be the grant: the University is finally paying us out of its own funds. This happened 3 weeks after other universities such as Leeds took the step and 3 weeks after I suggested the idea, only to be told that it wasn’t possible. Suddenly it is. I won’t complain as I need the money, but why the sudden change of heart?

Warwick’s a stupidly rich university (look at Maths), but for some reason the funds weren’t available. Perhaps it’s because the majority of students that are abroad are in language degrees. As everyone knows, humanities students are the students who get the least. We have the least contact hours, the least financial support (we buy our own books) and the least attractive building (not a major concern, but some aesthetic improvement wouldn’t hurt).

I’m not saying that that’s what it is, but that’s what it feels like. Besides, it’s a much bigger issue and not one that I can explore right now.

And while we’ve been struggling to get by, the British Council and International Office have been playing the blame game. Not content with owning up, both sides have implicated the other, leaving us in the dark. Not to mention the lack of apology. Although we’ve had countless apologies “for the delay”, they go on to stress that it can’t be because of them. It would appear that sorry really is the hardest word.

I’m not going to get into the fact that the Study Abroad Facebook page (the main resource for students in Europe) is poorly managed, with official replies to urgent queries taking days. All I’m asking is that someone shoulder the blame for this. A simple “sorry” would do. It doesn’t have to be sincere, it doesn’t have to be poetic. It just has to exist.