KrF (Christian People’s Party) secured Friday the majority of Parliament for changes in the unemployment benefit regulations. This decision opens the possibility to combine unemployment benefits and education.
The majority’s of Parliament asks the government “for greater access to education, including education that provides credits while receiving unemployment benefits”.
“This is a game changer for Tekna, who have been working for a long time to make it easier to combine unemployment benefits and further education. Many unemployed Tekna members want professional education opportunities to qualify for their next job,” says the organization’s general secretary Ivar H. Kristensen to NTB.
He points out that the current regulations do not make it easy to advance without the deduction of unemployment benefits paid by Nav. Friday’s decision took place on the initiative of Ap, Sp and SV in connection with the consideration of the budget setting by the Employment and Social Committee.
“It is pleasing that we have received a majority for the proposal. This will mean that people who are unemployed can get the opportunity to acquire more skills and more education, and thus become more attractive in the labor market,” says Labour party’s Arild Grande to E24.
“Now it’s important that the government get started immediately, so that this can take effect as soon as possible. Several people have been out of work for a long time,” says Grande.
The main rule as of today is that the person going to school, university or training is not entitled to unemployment benefit. The reason for this is that the person getting further education is not considered a ‘real job seeker’.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
