Atlantic Xpat

Of course polarising the debate between the 'rich and indulgent' and the poor oppressed masses who had to take on student loans, misses what I suspect is quite a large demographic - 'those who were fortunate enough for their parents to pay part, worked part time jobs to fund a bit more and ended up with an overdraft at bank rates in the days before the SLC existed'. That'd be me then.

Of course back then it was relatively difficult to get into Uni/Poly. Now every man/woman and his dog has the ability to become a student and put themselves in debt for a sizeable proportion of their life. It's certainly the Canadian way.

If you have SLC debt then you should repay it. Irrespective of where you live.

Yelkcub

My 16 year old daughter asking me what a Polytechnic was. It made me chuckle as some of the old Polys are Universities now. Nuff said.

el_richo

Because given the options available to me at the time, the SLC provided a payment scheme much more attractive when compared to other financial organisations.

jericho

I dont think that is the complaint here. It's more to do with the extreme incompetency people seem to experience when dealing with the SLC. I remember when I dealt with them, they couldnt even tell me how much I'd repaid, how much I owed etc etc. You spend absolutely ages on the phone waiting to get through to someone, and when you finally get through, they usually cannot help you.

The thread started off by the OP asking how he could keep up his repayments, and then it somehow got personal and off topic.... strange how that always seems to happen.

dbd33

Not so much anymore. Bank clerks have degrees, computer programmers have degrees, journalists have degrees, a degree is now like yer most basic educational qualification.

dbd33

Not just the ability but the need. Scads of organizations, and I single out Ontario Hydro, require that all staff have a degree. It need not be relevant and it need not have been taken in English or French but one there must be.

Atlantic Xpat

Yes. I'm old.

el_richo

Oh i don't doubt the SLC are inept, and i agree that topics are easily veered away from on here for sure.

My intended sarcasm was directed at people contemplating walking away from their financial obligations .

el_richo

Oh i don't doubt the SLC are inept, and i agree that topics are easily veered away from on here for sure.

My intended sarcasm was directed at people contemplating walking away from their financial obligations . Had I known these people were "down", i'd have refrained

ireland2canada

In current news, I am excited to report that just today I received written communication from the one and only SLC. They have informed me that I left the UK in June 2009, I actually left in December 2008 but who am I to split hairs?

They also kindly advise that if I do not provide them with details of my Canadian earnings then there will be all manner of legal action coming my way. Delightful! I shall hurry off to complete the same form I have completed already, twice.

I shall do all this with a smile on my face of course, I am both delighted and honoured to have been dealing with such a knowledgable and consistent group of individuals for the last year or so. And so regularly too! I look forward to more long distance calls and letters sent by courier in the future. Honestly, those who complain have such a nerve and really should get a reality check.

The moral of this tale is this - Do not assume that once you have started making repayments from overseas that this is the end of it. They may well start sending you the same stuff over and over again, for no apparent reason.

readytomove

just for clarification what i meant by double screwed was the fact that i missed out on getting a grant and i'm not allowed to differ payment for a year like everyone who started their courses before 1998. So at a time when i have a huge amount of financial burden it would have been nice to have been able to take a payment break like those who went to uni before 98.

i have no problems with living up to my financial responsibilities what i do have a problem with is dealing with a completely inept company who cant tell their a**e from their elbow. I've had enough trouble dealing with them in the UK and as someone else mentioned the thought of trying to organise payments from Canada really gets me down.

For those of you who think that getting into a management program at 18 with nothing but A levels is an option anymore, you're just fooling yourself. Nearly all professional jobs require a degree these days, it doesn't matter that anyone could do the job without a degree (the admin assistant in my office has a degree) they wont even call you in for an interview without one. So the option for me after A levels was get a minimum wage job with no prospects or go to university and try to increase my career potential and for that i had to get a loan.

Yelkcub

That will be why then!

I know a lot of people who chose the trainee route and do not have degrees. Degrees are now too a penny and a lot of people with them struggle to get work due to having no experience.


Funny enough I was working in the UK with some lads in their twenties who had no degree but started after leaving school at 16/18 as trainees / apprentices and done a day release vocational course -they were all doing professional jobs; Quantity Surveyors, Project Managers, Procurement Managers, Commercial Managers, Technical Managers, etc. They are all earning well above average wages which conflicts with your suggestion that without a degree you are damned to a "minimum wage job with no prospects". Yes a degree helps but it isn't the be and end all in life. Commonsense and determination goes a long way.

dbd33

I'm not a builder but "Quantity Surveyor" seems like a responsible job. A quick scan of adverts suggests that you need a degree or an HND:

http://quantity-surveying.topjobs.co...=133456&sch=11

http://quantity-surveying.topjobs.co...=132980&sch=11

I imagine most job adverts in the UK are like that, pretty much all of them are in Canada. Granted a degree is not worth much on its own but as they're too a penny few firms are going to look at someone without one.

Yelkcub

The first job description says "BSc or Higher National Diploma in Quantity Surveying" - the latter is what a trainee QS would gain via a day release course. The difference between him and the graduate counterpart is that he would have between 3 and 5 years work experience at 21 years of age and he would be able to work on his own - the graduate would have to shadow someone to learn on the job.

I'm not sure what your last sentence is trying to say - I assume that you have missed out a few words that mean that it reads different to that which you intended it to. If that is correct and you meant that they're too a penny few firms that are going to look at someone without a degree, I think that your own post read in conjunction with this proved this point wrong.

jarman

I know the SLC are not great, but I've not had that many bad experiences, thus far. I had to fill in my Overseas Assessment form, and I wasn't working at the time so for the next year I don't have to make any payments, plus was told that the interest rate was currently 0%, so it's not going to go up either which is great. Even better was that a week later I got a job!!
When I do have to start paying it back, I was planning on getting my parents to setup a direct debit, and I'd then pay them back in a lump sum.