The Department of Education and Children has agreed to delay asking Tynwald to support the 2013 Student Awards Regulations to allow Members more time to consider them.
 
The DEC usually takes its Student Awards Regulations to Tynwald in the springtime.
 
As the 2013 regulations would have an impact on students who will start university next September, it was decided they should be published earlier and taken to Tynwald this month.
 
However, several Members approached the Department to request that the matter be deferred until the January sitting (15th-17th January) to allow them more time to consider the regulations.
 
As the Department has now achieved its main purpose for publishing the Student Awards Regulations earlier than usual – which was to ensure students had the earliest possible notification of its proposals – it is happy to respond positively to the request.
 
This matter will now be placed before the January sitting of Tynwald for approval.
 
The Department remains committed to the principles in the regulations, which see the balance of responsibility for the payment of tuition fees becoming more equitably shared between the Department and students.
 
Achieving this will enable the Department to continue to protect core services such as schools at a time when it, alongside all Departments of Government, needs to achieve significant budgetary savings.