CHESTER students are so desperate for extra cash they are turning to the sex industry to make ends meet.
Claims have been made this week by the National Union of Students (NUS) that more and more university students are resorting to working as escorts and lap dancers to fund their university education.
And they have been backed up by the president of the University of Chester Students’ Union, Dechlan Jarrett, who says this trend has been ‘going on for a while’.
“Students will find any way to get extra income and in the USA this is actually quite common,” he said.
Mr Jarrett said he was certainly aware of some students who had turned to exotic dancing in clubs to boost their income.
“It is good pay and at the end of the day, it’s a job, just like when you get a job in a shop.
“These kind of places are in town and not in the university area, and the students are adult. As long as they’re not in danger it is up to them.
“But if they feel they have to go deeper than lap dancing to make some money, they should contact the university who can provide them with support.”
With university tuition fees set to rise sharply in 2012 and maintenance grants often barely covering accommodation fees, the NUS said students were also gambling or taking part in medical experiments to cope with the pressures.
Dan Fox, an 18-year-old computer programming student at a university he does not wish to name, contacted The Chronicle to explain how he started working as a male escort two months ago because he was so short of money.
“I get quite a bit of money for it, a lot of which I am going to save for next year’s course,” added Dan.
“It’s not something I am going to do for the rest of my life but I know that it will all be worth it in the end.”
In a statement released by the University of Chester this week, a spokesman said: “The university has not had this issue raised with it by any student in any capacity, including welfare and counselling enquiries.
“The university gives advice and guidance to students to enable them to avoid getting into financial difficulties.
“There are many ways in which we offer support to our students, including offering bursaries and indicating other sources of funding, advertising the Access to Learning Fund for eligible students, giving advice on budget management or directing them to external organisations which can offer help.
“Additionally, the careers and employability department also gives details of student jobs and the university-run Unijob scheme offers opportunities for paid work on campus.”
