BA Psychology graduates having to do an extra course to start working or do a masters are not getting stipends and grants like all other students.
We are lucky enough to live in a country where students are paid to attend school. It is an amazing advantage for us students but it would be even better if ALL students received the same benefit.
Students reading for a Higher Diploma in Psychology at the University of Malta are denied their students and grants. The excuse that is being used when asked why these students aren’t being paid, is that they are reading for a second undergraduate degree. However it is clearly stated in UM’s by-laws that H. Diploma students are an exception because they need this extra course to both obtain their warrant and actually work, and to further their studies at masters level.
Students are being forced to feel that their course is laughable and relatively unimportant. Compare this to the constant mental health awareness campaigns we are experiencing in Malta.
How are you going to promote mental health when you’re discouraging aspiring professionals who are going to be the forefront of this cause?
Students are being forced to feel that their course is laughable and relatively unimportant. Compare this to the constant mental health awareness campaigns we are experiencing in Malta. How are you going to promote mental health when you’re discouraging aspiring professionals who are going to be the forefront of this cause? Many students grieved over how hard it is to juggle a part-time job and a thesis over the course of one year. That said, getting the allowances granted to equally struggling students would be the obvious course of action.
It should also be noted that the year-long course is not the usual academic year but lectures also take place during summer. Between year-round lectures and thesis-research there is less time for work shifts and as a result a ‘more’ broke student. That extra monthly €88 and the hefty grant at the beginning of the year are a major stress reliever, so why aren’t they extended to every university student?