Last September, the coalition government agreed to a one-time payment for students. Since December, the Students’ Energy Price Allowance Act has been in effect, but except for a few students in a trial phase, the vast majority of students cannot access the money or apply for it. Six months after the decision to provide this relief payment, millions of students are still waiting for their one-time payment of over €200.
From March, the new BW Youth Ticket will be available for €365. That’s great and, in our view, a small and long overdue step toward a climate- and socially just mobility turnaround.
The problem: The ticket is only valid up to and including the age of 26. In addition, the current Studiticket is expected to expire at the end of August 2023. Students aged 27 and over will therefore be without a suitable Studiticket from September. This threatens to significantly increase their costs for bus and rail, because the next “cheapest” option would then be the Deutschlandticket for €49 per month.
From our view this is – above all – a discrimination of older fellow students because of their age!
Since attempts by student representatives to remove the age limit unfortunately remained unsuccessful until the end, we are now taking matters into our own hands: Together with Stuttgart branches and political youth groups, we have formulated an open letter. In it, we call on the city of Stuttgart and the city council to create an opportunity for students over the age of 27 to use public transportation for a maximum of €1 per day. You can find the whole letter under this link. You can also find more info in our Instapost (English details in the description).
In the letter we emphasize that this can only be the beginning: In perspective, a climate and socially just mobility transition can only succeed if students, pupils, trainees, volunteers and people with low or no income can ride buses and trains for free.
We will continue to put pressure on this matter!
It’s that time again: After a long break, the long-awaited VS Christmas market is back.
When: 15.12.2022, 1-6pm
Where: Outdoor Area S-Bar
Your elected council members introduce themselves!
The General Assembly is the event where you can learn everything about the student body and get to know the most important contact persons.
At this event we will give you a deeper insight into the work of the VS and explain in detail what the VS is, how you can participate, which services we provide for you and which current topics we are currently dealing with. The whole event will take place as a hybrid event and will also be streamed live.
When: 8th November 2022
Time: 11.45pm – 1:15am
Where: i003 (Audimax), live stream (vs-hdm.de/vollversammlung)
We look forward to hearing from you and answering your questions!
On Oct. 12, 2022, the VS Council met for the 80th time. New and old familiar faces met to kick off the 2022/23 Council term. After the initial update on current university events, this meeting was primarily about distributing VS positions for the coming year. As a result, we are proud to introduce our new VS Board of Directors and your contacts.
Foyer of the Media University, 06.10.2022, 19:00: The turbulent first week started for our chickens with first mass, introductory events and chick cinema. The crowning finale was our Kückennacht, which was put together by numerous helpers.
Last week, from Sept. 28 – Sept. 30, 2022, the VS retreat was held. This brought together members of the past and future VS Council to prepare for the upcoming term.
The retreat was used to prepare prospective VS members for their future work, with the outgoing board under board chair Franziska Roth in particular explaining their duties and positions and sharing valuable experiences.
In addition, the meeting dealt with the development of relevant university-political topics for the upcoming period – in particular, the university’s handling of the current energy crisis, as well as digital accessibility on the university websites were addressed and intensively discussed.
Of course, the retreat also served to get to know each other – entertainment and fun were not neglected. Whether it was cooking or playing games together, none of the participants left the conference without having had a good time and making friends.
On 04.09.2022 the meeting of the Landes-Asten-Konferenz (LAK) took place at the Hochschule der Medien. Among the 22 attendees were also our networking officer Julian Schmoll and Svea Brun from the networking team. We would like to summarize the most important topics in this article.
The State Asten Conference has decided to support the positioning paper on the statewide semester ticket. This can be found here.
The starting point for the decision is the inter-transportation youth ticket presented at the end of November 2021 at a price of 365€, which is to be available from 01.03.2023. Entitled all under 21-jähirgen, as well as Schüler:innen, apprentices, Freiwilligendienstleistende and students up to 27 years.
The Working Group Statewide Semester Ticket welcomes the introduction of the youth ticket, but the currently planned implementation is considered insufficient for reasons of age discrimination, price increase of existing semester tickets and with regard to the successor solution of the 9 € ticket.
The state student representation would like to initiate a campaign, the implementation should be carried out by the executive board and the speakers as well as the universities themselves.
The first draft of this campaign will be presented at the next meeting.
The background to this will be topics such as second tuition fees, tuition fees for non-EU citizens, and the financial situation of students.
The representatives:inside of the University of Ulm have reacted to the concept from the MWK earlier this year. This concept includes 28 million euros to be used by colleges and universities to alleviate pandemic-related learning backlogs.
The statement criticizes the basic principle as well as the practical implementation. On the one hand, there is a lack of specifications for which expenditures the funds can be explicitly used, and on the other hand, the funds cannot be used meaningfully across years. There is an explicit wish for improvement here.
Amendment of the LHG with regard to mental illnesses
The Equality Unit has submitted a motion to recognize any mental illness in the State Higher Education Act.
Through this motion, the Department for Equality and the Executive Board of the State Student Council are tasked with bringing about an amendment to the State Higher Education Act. The background is that mental illnesses are not sufficiently recognized in the LHG. This includes, for example, the anchoring of psychogenic reactions to the examination process as well as anxiety disorders. Affected persons should receive adequate compensation possibilities and also be able to withdraw from examinations in an orderly manner.
Modification of structures for compensation for disadvantages
Furthermore, the Department for Equal Opportunity and the Executive Board of the State Student Representative Council are charged with creating structures (at the state and university level) that ensure that disadvantage compensation for students is complete, adequate and sustainable, and that application procedures are standardized.
These disadvantage compensations concern students with disabilities, chronic illnesses or other mental/physical limitations. The goal is for the state government to provide legal security for those affected and to communicate guidelines to any higher education institutions to support students.
To celebrate the successful term, to thank for the good cooperation and to welcome parts of the new council, the VS council organized a semester closing event for all new members and initiatives on 20.07.2022. In the courtyard of the HdM, everyone had the opportunity to exchange ideas outside of the council meetings and enjoy pizza and soft drinks in a cozy atmosphere. Despite rain showers, the event was a success and resulted in a karaoke party with surprise guests.
With the party was also our “new” mascot Gustav. This presented itself proudly to the former and new council members and said goodbye to his old feather dress.
