It's a bit like the dreaded transport costs - NHS DSA will only pay the
travel cost over and above that incurred by other students, so they have to
deduct £1 from each journey I make that would be done by bus by other
students.
Quoting Paul Dilley <[log in to unmask]>:
> >Quoting Ian Webb:
> >
> >an assessor has to be very clear that access to the internet is an
> >essential part of the course and that it is for this reason only that
> costs are
> >to be met through the DSA.
>
> If internet access is an essential part of the course then it's not
> fundable from the DSA. This is the situation with a lot of OU students.
>
> In order for the DSA to pay for it, the assessor must be satisfied that
> it is an additional cost related to a disability need. E.g. for a
> dyslexic student to be able to access research materials using their
> assistive software.
>
> Of course, if a student says they don't already have internet access, you
> have to take their word for it.
>
> >I am also aware that costs have fallen dramatically over the last decade
> and
> >with costs being as low as £8.50 per month allowing costs of £200 seems
> a
> >little excessive. Costs when this high usually include TV access and
> telephone
> >calls, not sure that the DSA should be used this way.
>
> Costs have fallen, but the method of billing can cause difficulty,
> especially as most providers insist on credit or debit card payment,
> which the majority of students tell us they don't have. This severely
> restricts the range of services that students can access. This is why we
> base our maximum costs on what BT charges, as it's possible to have this
> added to the monthly bill.
>
> Also, as implied above, using an ISP relies on the student having access
> to a landline. I know of a couple of students who attempted to keep costs
> to a minimum by subscribing to the 'combined services' that Ian mentions,
> thinking they would get a monthly contribution towards the total cost.
> However, their LAs refused to contribute anything as internet access was
> shown on the invoice as 'free'.
>
> While I agree with Ian that we should be careful that the DSA doesn't end
> up paying for TV access and telephone calls, it needs commonsense
> approach from the funding bodies.
>
> Paul Dilley
> Dis-forum list owner
> CLASS Manager
>
> www.class.org.uk
>
>
>
>
>
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