First the rent in the halls of residence will be increased by €26.99 on December 1 of this year [0], and now the student union fee, which all students at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences have to pay, is also to be increased by €15. This would put it at over €100 and exceed the semester fees of all other student unions in Saxony [1][2][3]. In view of the already high burden on students in the current price increase crisis , the Student Council of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is clearly opposed to the planned rent and fee increases.
"This price increase comes at the worst possible time. Many of us are currently having to worry about whether we will be able to pay the next utility bill. On the one hand, there is now the threat of being kicked out of the apartment and, on the other, being kicked out of the university, because anyone who doesn't pay the semester contribution on time will be exmatriculated," complains Annika Thomas, Head of the Department for Housing, International Affairs, Social Affairs and Food at the HSZG StuRa.
However, there is no need to increase rents and semester fees: The new double budget in Saxony is currently being negotiated, in which the subsidies to the Saxon student unions are also determined. For years, however, these subsidies have not been sufficient for ongoing operations and now not even inflation is being compensated for, which means that the student unions are de facto receiving even less money.
"It can't be right that we students, who are already affected by poverty to an above-average extent, have to pay for the government's austerity measures! In all relief packages, we are either completely left out or only the minority of BAföG recipients are taken into account. The services offered by the Studierendenwerke; the cheap canteen meals, the psychosocial counseling are something we need particularly urgently at the moment. So now would be the opportunity to really relieve the burden on us students and to finally fund our student union sufficiently!", demands UtaLemke, Head of the University Policy Department in the HSZG StuRa.
Sources:
[0]: https://www.studentenwerk-dresden.de/wirueberuns/newsartikel-5510.html