Célia, volunteer at Catholic Relief in Maine-et-Loire, produced a synthesis on student precariousness in Angers. Access to rights, difficulties in getting around or having access to IT tools: there is no shortage of concerns. The Secours Catholique de Maine-et-Loire is considering new actions aimed at students …
Célia, 22, was a civic volunteer with the Secours Catholique delegation in Maine-et-Loire until April 2021. She was involved in actions with people on the street or isolated, but also with the youth network of the association (students, young professionals) who carry out, among other things, marauding.
Secours Catholique 49 entrusted him with carrying out a summary on student precariousness in Angers, while the confinements made the worrying situation of many students more visible.
Why this work on student precariousness?
During a seminar with a geographer from the University of Angers last November, we dived into the reality of the life of a significant fraction of Angevin students. At Secours Catholique, we have understood the gravity of the situation.
Today, there is no specific action in Angers by Secours Catholique aimed at students. The decision was taken to explore this question in greater depth through meetings with the University of Angers, associations already active with students in difficulty, a social worker, the students concerned, etc.
My work then took the form of a dossier, a summary, not a systematic study.
The issue of student accommodation comes up often in the media. What about Angers?
The number of students has increased significantly in recent years (42,000 students [1] ). This rapid increase poses problems in terms of the availability of suitable housing.
I have realized that this housing issue generates a lot of stress and anxiety for the students. This can cause some to perform poorly, or even miss exams as they move from mattress to mattress. A student she met even spent two weeks on the streets at the start of the year.
The availability of housing is the biggest emergency today, with a view to the start of the 2021 school year in Angers. Many owners who rented a room in their home have given up because of the health crisis: this has aggravated the tensions.
What are the other fields of student precariousness?
With the Covid, many students found themselves with a lack of resources because they could not work: student job during the year or the summer.
The question of food is therefore a real problem for students. When you have a small budget, some meals can go by the wayside.
Despite everything, in Angers, food distributions and meals at low prices exist and cover the demand of those who make themselves known rather well. A solidarity grocery store could see the light of day in the coming months.
Digital insecurity is another aspect that impacts the life of students and their learning: access to an Internet connection, an adapted computer, a telephone plan, etc.
For some, the cost of public transport (subscription, ticket) directly impacts learning by making travel more difficult.
There are currently no or few solutions to address these problems of access to digital technology and public transport: an answer remains to be imagined in these areas.
I am not forgetting the issue of health, in particular for international students, who, for lack of suitable cover, have to forgo certain treatments or basic drugs.
What are the consequences of the health crisis on Angevin students?
A difficult year, because the isolation weighs a lot. Several students shared it: “I’m depressed.” A young student told us that she had not been able to have a real relationship with anyone for four months.
Loneliness also prevented some students from finding support, friendly advice to solve practical problems related to their studies or to daily life.
The confinements made it difficult to identify the students concerned who no longer went to class or to places where they could have expressed their difficulties.
The health situation complicated the administrative procedures to manage his daily life and especially to be able to access aid and assert his rights. We could see that the support for administrative procedures for foreign students was insufficient.
What actions do you envisage at Secours Catholique in the coming months for students?
This synthesis made it possible to better situate the possible fields of action to reach out to students in precariousness. Secours Catholique 49 think about opening a place of administrative assistance for foreign students who are most affected by the current crisis.
Specific assistance for students could be put in place, depending on criteria, student profiles with little or no resources. One can imagine a micro-credit system for the acquisition of digital tools.
Go further :
Secours Catholique in Maine-et-Loire
[1] source University of Angers
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