Ministry to help students

The Education Ministry, in an attempt to find ways to make student life easier, wants to expand its social bursaries system and increase the maximum student loan quota from zł. 450 to zł. 600. The move represents partial compensation for the scrapping of the tax breaks on educational spending. "Whether we will be able to see our plans work, will depend largely on the decision of parliament and on the budget," said Ewa Sieczek, head of the Higher Education Department at the Education Ministry. "As we do not know parliament's decision, it is difficult to give any details," she added. The Finance Ministry has decided to scrap tax breaks on spending on private school education. In return, the Education Ministry would receive zł. 900 million, which might be used to improve conditions for students who are badly off. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A4) J.K.