Words by Rosalind Thacker
Dwindling mental health support, an over-crowded job market and the same high expectations means it’s students who are bearing the brunt of lockdown.
With Boris announcing a third lockdown, we all gathered round our televisions once more, awaiting his detailed outline of the new rules and who they would affect. Students around the country waited in anticipation to hear about what was going to happen. Can they go back to university? What will happen to their rent? Exams? Dissertations? Unsurprisingly, they were left waiting a long time for the answers. The Prime Minister gave so little reference to students it was as if he was allergic to saying the word ‘university’. Once again, they were left in a state of limbo, and it was up to universities to make their own decisions.
As a result, the pandemic is widening gaps by disproportionately affecting the most disadvantaged groups – students of colour, working class students, young carers, those with childcare responsibilities, students facing house precarity and those in hostile home situations. The lack of support is astounding, with many universities offering no additional measures for students who are struggling. Even for students suffering with mental health problems – with 78% of students reporting their mental health suffered as a result of the first lockdown – the situation this time round is no better, with arguably less support in place than there was before. And yet, they are still expected to complete their exams and dissertations up to their expected grades without any safety-net policies in place – students have been woefully neglected, and have had their future prospects jeopardized. Regardless of the ‘academic integrity’ of online teaching, the value of practical learning simply cannot be accounted for, especially for students on vocational courses.
Young people – or ‘Generation-Covid’ – are facing an overcrowded job-market, and on top of that are also the most likely to be made redundant from their current part-time jobs, leaving many disadvantaged students in fragile financial situations. The universities themselves have taken different approaches of ‘support’, but there is evidently a huge divide in how the richer institutions are handling it. While universities such as Cambridge are stocking up on COVID tests for its staff and students, others like Lancaster are charging students £17.95 for self-isolation meals that cost £2.50.
Students have very little to show for the £9,250 in fees they have been forced to pay. In fact, I imagine if a student were to walk around campus and try and work out what it is they are actually paying for, they would struggle to find much in the way of value. There’s no sign of face-to-face teaching, access to facilities, social events, or well-being support, not to mention the money students have been forced to pay in rent for houses and flats they can’t even go back to. There have been calls for refunds, with many students feeling their university experience has been far from what they were promised.
Although refunds and safety-net policies would be ideal given the precarity of the situation, above all, students just want to be listened to. The lack of support for the most vulnerable groups needs to change, as the country will only digress further into significant class divisions, especially given the current over-crowded and over-competitive job-market. Mental health support needs to improve, with BAME students being most likely to suffer from mental health problems as a result of Covid-19. Vulnerable students shouldn’t be left to their own devices, and their well-being needs to be prioritised.
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