Students in Thuringia: Protests against BAföG home are increasing!

Students in Thuringia: Protests against BAföG home are increasing!

In Thuringia it is bubbling, and not just because of the warm summer days. Due to the scandalous waiting times, students feel neglected and unheard about BAföG financial aids. At the moment, many of them are waiting for the urgently needed support for several months, which gives you real difficulties. According to a report by N-tv Expresses the parliamentary group leader of the left, Christian Schaft, his criticism in this important topic and finally demands improvement.

One of the biggest sticking points is the rushed processing of the applications. According to reports, the average processing time for BAföG applications has been between six to nine months for years, while some students even have to wait over a year. Last year, a total of 6,400 out of around 24,000 applications were still open. This has now led to protests in cities such as Erfurt and Ilmenau, where students went on the street loudly and clearly against the grievances.

protests that cannot be ignored

In May of the current year, numerous students gathered in Erfurt and Ilmenau. A protest campaign entitled "Bafög or Demolition" draws attention to the pressing problems. Creative actions and rallies reflect the discomfort that emerges from the standstill. After all, you don't just want to wait for the competition from other federal states where the university location may offer more support.

The protesters not only require faster processing, but also a sustainable improvement in the conditions. A respectable step could be the planned administrative assistance from Hesse and Lower Saxony, which the Thuringian Ministry of Education prospects. But at the moment the whole thing is more of a future music, since the previous efforts of the Thuringian Studies have hardly delivered any results, such as Insuedthueringen reported.

The financial problem becomes critical

The concerns of the students are more than just an emotional topic. Many new students are in fault for their parents or even have to fall back on student loans to ensure their financial security. Due to the lack of BAföG payments, you get into serious difficulties, which in some cases can even lead to problems with Schufa. "We urgently need solutions, otherwise the students migrate," warns Schaft. He emphasizes that the situation could affect the university location if nothing happens.

The Thuringian household provides for at least 400,000 euros for 2025 to strengthen the student union. Above all, these additional positions should help shorten the processing times and to bypass the bottleneck to personnel. However, new employees need a certain training period, which is why patience is also required here, and that in an already tense situation.

Another reason for the delays are still many incomplete or analogous applications that take additional time. The digitization of the application process should help here in the future, but it remains to be seen when the hoped -for effects will be visible.

Overall, it becomes clear that not only the students, but also the employees of the Studierendenwerk suffer from the current situation. "We need a quick solution and no empty promises," says a student affected, in a nutshell and thus underpins the feeling of frustration that hovers in the lectures. The continuing protests should not be overlooked-they are a clear call to mobilize those responsible, who have to finally deal with deeds instead of words, such as Antennethueringen summarized.