Annick Girardin, indicates the methods of allocation of aid and their amounts are being finalized with the Ministry of Education.
All the more isolated since, for some, their relatives are located thousands of kilometers away, and that, sometimes, they arrived there so little in the Hexagon that they did not have time to take their landmarks. The overseas students living in metropolitan France have been drooling more than usual since the start of the confinement introduced to fight against the spread of the new coronavirus. What aids are they entitled to? When will they be able to return home? Will airlines keep prices affordable when routes can resume? These questions which torment them, we put them to Annick Girardin, Minister of Overseas.
First of all, can you tell us what is the estimated number of overseas students in mainland France, including newcomers?
There is no official list of overseas students in France, because in France, students are not counted according to their region of origin. The average estimate is around 40.000 overseas students living in mainland France. This estimate is based on the 12.000 students benefiting from the study mobility passport from the French overseas agency for mobility (Ladom) and on the lifts of the various communities. It is not possible to know the number of new arrivals.
Do you have any feedback on the situation of students who are confined to their residences overseas? In Guadeloupe, some depend on help from associations to eat, for example, because their university canteen is closed and they do not have transport to go to the shops ...
We are, with Frédérique Vidal [Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation], very attentive to the situation of overseas students who have stayed in their student residences, in overseas, but also in France, because we specifically asked them, in mid-March, to stay where they study. We did not know what the modalities of reopening the universities would be and it was a question of protecting them as much as possible, as well as their relatives. We are aware that the closure of collective catering, in particular, has created additional difficulties for students.
At the end of March, the government announced support measures, by allowing, for example, universities to use the student and campus life contribution (CVEC) budgets to finance food, IT equipment and emergency services. He also released a budget for specific emergency aid allocated by the Crous up to an additional 10 million euros.
Source: 20minutes.fr
In addition, the French overseas department, with the Interministerial Delegate for Equal Opportunities for French Abroad and Overseas Visibility, made sure that the overseas students were properly guided when needed. A mutual aid platform has also been set up. Associations also play a central role in supporting students, I would also like to express my gratitude to them for the action they carry out on a daily basis. I decided to strengthen their support means, by dedicating a global envelope of € 250.000. The call for projects has just been launched. The idea is to implement these additional means from the beginning of May.
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