<I><B>About 5,000 students took to the streets last Thursday to protest against the end of subsidies for SC and HSC fees. These are some of their comments?</I></B>

● <B>Reuben : ?Education is a universal right?</B>

As a student in Upper VI at Eden college, Reuben insists that the government should review its decision. ?Even people earning more than Rs 7 500 a month will not be able to afford to pay.? For him, it is more a matter of ideology rather than one of pure economics. ?Education can?t be a matter of money only. It is a universal right. The state has the duty to support all those who do not have the means to cater for their studies,? argues Reuben.

● <B>Yaseen Dabeedin : ?Think of the most vulnerable members of our society?</B>

?By removing subsidies on SC and HSC exam fees, the government is being unfair. How will households living on a monthly income of Rs 8 000, Rs 10 000 or slightly more manage to pay?? asks this student from the Lycée Mauricien.

Yaseen, who is taking part in the SC exams this year feels that the government should come back to its previous formula which subsidised 50 % of the exam fees for all candidates. Subsidising the whole amount for families with a maximum revenue of Rs 7500 is a good thing but this does not help all the most vulnerable members of society, according to him.

● <B>Soodeepta Lungar : ?How will my parents manage??</B>

?My parents have six children and I am taking part in the HSC exams this year. Paying the whole amount of the exam fees will be a real problem for my parents,? states Soodeepta Lungar, a student at St Barthelemew?s College. The proposal made to families earning more than Rs 7 500 to contract a debt, even at a preferential rate, to pay the fees is definitely not a solution because they will then need to repay this loan. ?Many households won?t be able to get through it,?she thinks.

● <B>Jessica Chung : ?This decision has not been made for the country?s welfare ?</B>

?It would not be true to say that the decision to remove subsidies for all those earning more than Rs 7 500 was taken with the country?s welfare in mind,? Jessica Chung, a student in Lower VI at Loreto College Quatre-Bornes, thinks. According to her, most families will not be able to pay the exam fees even with a monthly income of Rs 15,000. ?Every child has the right to access education. They are asking us to make a sacrifice but how much money are they wasting ? Don?t we have the right to buy, eat, drink and live?? asks Jessica Chung.