opinion
50 years of Bafög – happy anniversary, dear student funding! As much as every single sponsored person deserves every penny: this is not just a reason to celebrate.
The Bafög, the so-called Federal Training Assistance Act, has existed since 1971, i.e. for 50 years. Basically, that’s a wonderful thing – it made it possible for students like me to study who could hardly or not at all receive support from their parents. But despite a major reform two years ago, there is a problem everywhere.
The often promised “simple, fast and safe procedure” is a single bureaucracy monster that is unparalleled even in the administrative wonderland of Germany. You have to state your own income and all of your possessions – which is correct and meaningful. But Bafög is still tied to parents in 2021 – a deficiency that should have been fixed for years and still won’t.
19-year-olds should please be independent in every way, grow up, be able to conclude a building society loan agreement, but should their study financing be completely dependent on their parents? This has long been out of date. Sometimes the relationship is not right, or parents are just over the limit and can only marginally support their children – that’s enough so that there is not a cent left.
A joke among Bafög recipients: no money for pizza with cheese crust
The second point of criticism: For most of them, the monthly support is not enough, so you have to work on the side. But if you earn more than 450 euros, you get deductions – while you sometimes wait months for the student loan application to be processed, during which you don’t even know whether you will even get the permit. But nobody can make ends meet with 450 euros. In the best case scenario, after months of waiting, you can also pay back money because you have earned too much in the meantime. Not for nothing is a slightly ironic saying among Bafög recipients: inside: Did you order a pizza with cheese crust last month? Unfortunately there is no student loan for you today!
And the real problem: Bafög now hardly reaches the people who need it most. The so-called middle class, people who come from working-class families, who may have completed an apprenticeship before going to university or who are studying part-time because they take care of family members. These people just fall through the cracks.
Only twelve percent of the students are supported
In the 1970s, almost half of the students received funding, in 2019 it was only less than twelve percent. Meanwhile, our education minister, Anja Karliczek (CDU), is transferring 360 million euros back to the federal government because too little money has been called up – while far too many students live in precarious circumstances or cannot study at all – because the student loan application was rejected. Usually nobody knows why. Because the calculation is so opaque that even as a person with a university degree, one wonders why the hell one is actually getting 200 or 500 euros now. Or not a cent.
Almost all parties make suggestions to reform this actually good idea – who and, above all, what will prevail in the end, will only be seen after the federal election. Just please, dear parties, do something. Because the current “funding” leaves many students in the lurch.
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David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
