23 August 2002
Students who volunteer to help in the community should earn a reduction in the cost of going to university, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.
In a report due to be published next month, the IPPR argues that thousands of hard-up students should be aided if they volunteer to work in the NHS or in deprived areas. It proposes that volunteer credits could be earned in between terms or during a gap year.
Students could also be used as teaching assistants, which it claims would 'kill several birds with one stone', by helping students financially and providing more assistance for teachers.
The report, Any volunteers for a good society?, is likely to be floated as potential government policy with an endorsement by Home Secretary and former Education Secretary David Blunkett.
The IPPR said the idea, based on the success of the Federal Work Study programme in the US, would help boost civic involvement among the young in the UK, which has seen a steady decline in the postwar years.
PFaug2002
