One of my priorities this semester is to work on how well EUSA represents and caters to student parents or those with caring responsibilities. As part of this work, I’ll be spending the next few months trying to pass a motion at Student Council to create a Parents and Carers Action Group, and a position in the EUSA general election for the Convener of this group. To change Democracy Regulations we require at least 50 people to vote for a motion at two consecutive meetings, so I hope you’ll appreciate how important this work is and come along to vote the motion through on the 26th February and 2nd April! We understand that the issues facing these students are sometimes hidden, and that if you don’t have direct experience of them you might not be able to fully appreciate the barriers that they face, so I’m very grateful that a student parent and young student carer have taken the time to write briefly about their experiences and why they support the introduction of a Parents and Carers Action Group.
A student parent’s experience – by Lucy Brown
To give you a bit of background about myself, I started my academic career by doing a part time Social Science Access to University Course, through Edinburgh University. At that point in time I only had one child. During this course I became pregnant with my second. I decided at that moment I would defer for a year and start my joint degree in Sociology and Social Anthropology in 2014.
I wanted to be a part of the university and enjoy everything that it had to offer. Upon attending Fresher’s week with my son, who was meant to be at his childminder’s but had become ill, I quickly realised that Fresher’s week was not inclusive for families. I read through the booklet a couple of times and didn’t find anything that we could do together, so decided I would not bother with the rest of the week. There seemed to be only one event for mature students, which I found a shame, as it is one of the hardest times, integrating back into education.
While starting university the following week and attending lectures, I knew this was the place for me, regardless of the hard time I had had the previous week. I was making new friends; however, I only felt involved with the educational aspect of university.
I faced more struggles than I thought I would. Finding appropriate care for my son was hard. I needed to find someone I could 100% trust. I was lucky to find someone – however, since starting, due to my child carer’s other commitments, I have not had child care cover on a Wednesday and Thursday. This has caused some difficulty in attending lectures on those days. If only there was the option to request audio recordings due to special circumstances.
I would have additionally found it useful to be able to use an on-site nursery within George Square. There is a nursery at the Kings’ Buildings, but it is centrally located and would require three buses to get there. Additionally, they charge the same price as every other nursery in Edinburgh and due to the fact it is open to the general public, my son would have had to join a waiting list. If I was to get a place in this nursery it would have meant my son would be at three different places a week, myself included, and that would be too much for someone so young. I am fully aware that having a nursery in George Square would be a huge undertaking and is not likely to happen in my time at the university, but believe it would make it easier for future parents with young children to have a centrally located and affordable nursery. It would also have been helpful to have the same holidays as the schools, as my eldest is in Primary school.
I would just like to make it clear, I do not regret the decision I made, I think this is the best thing I can do for myself and my family. I am not looking for sympathy or to receive leeway with my coursework. I just ask for understanding and maybe more happening on-site to make it easier for those with family constraints to make friends, which in turn would create some peer support.
A student carer’s experience – by Sara Missaghian
*note – Sara’s experience is of being a Young Adult Carer. There will be Adult Carers at Edinburgh University who are older and face different issues, and we also seek to gather their views and experiences.
A Young Adult Carer is someone who is aged 16-25 and provides, or intends to provide, care, assistance or support to an adult on an unpaid basis. The person they care for may be a family member who is suffering from mental or physical ill health, disability or addiction. They may or may not live at the same address as the person that they care for and there may be other adults supporting the person that they care for. Some provide care intermittently such as during university holidays, or at the weekends.
At this age, young people are seeking their independence and preparing for their futures through education, employment and training. Young Adult Carers are doing the same, and having taken on large responsibilities from a young age have immense skill sets and capabilities. However, due to the barriers facing them, 50% of Young Adult Carers are not in education, employment or training.[1] These barriers include a lack of support to improve carers’ physical and mental wellbeing, the need for funding and awareness and understanding of the unique situation of carers by academic staff. Young Adult Carers may also struggle to access student services such as the counselling service and extra-curricular activities.
EUSA representing and supporting student carers will provide a platform for the reduction of these barriers, hence an improvement of the access that carers have to university education. It is the responsibility of the University to ensure that all people have equal access to university life. We believe that this includes us, those who are caring for others, as well as those who are being cared for.
[1] Jenny Larkin, Barnardo’s Action for Young Adult Carers Liverpool
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