Newry and Armagh MLA Megan Fearon has welcomed the launch of a public consultation by the Employment & Learning Minister Stephen Farry into the frequency of student support payments.
The Sinn Féin MLA said, “At present, student support payments are paid in three instalments over the academic year, in October, January and after Easter.
“This makes it very difficult for students to budget and causes great financial distress to many people. No other section of our society would be expected to budget in such a way.
“I have raised this issue with Stephen Farry on a number of occasions in recent years, and every time I did there was huge interest among the student population for this change to be made.
“When I launched a public petition calling for the frequency of payments to be changed it attracted a large number of signatures in a very short period. I am hopeful that there will be widespread support for a change to a more frequent payment scheme to allow students to budget better,” Fearon added.
Fearon backs monthly student support payments
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