Students Respond to Report "Is that it?"

Tuesday, 30 October 2001

Students Respond to Report "Is that it?"

Students couldn't be more disappointed by the results of the Inquiry into student fees loans and allowances released by Parliament's Education and Science Select Committee earlier today.

President of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association Chris Hipkins said that students had been hoping the report would address many of the fundamental issues facing students, such as lack of access to allowances, high tuition fees, and blooming student loan debts, given that both Labour and the Alliance campaigned vigorously on those issues at the last election.

"Once again we have been let down by our parliamentarians," Mr Hipkins said. "We put a lot of effort into encouraging students to make submissions to the Inquiry, and it all seems to have been in vain,"

"For the Committee to turn around at the end of their investigation and make the sole recommendation that more research is required is simply insulting. That's the reason we encouraged the Committee to undertake the review in the first place," Mr. Hipkins said.

"We know what the problems are, and more research into what effect they are having isn't going to do anything to solve them," Mr. Hipkins said.

"Labour and the Alliance have trumped up the tertiary education initiatives they have undertaken since the last election, but in reality they amount to little more than tinkering around the edges. We're delighted that fees have been frozen, but in the longer term they have to come down," Mr. Hipkins said.

"It's also very disappointing to see the Chair of the Committee distancing herself from the report before it was even released. The Alliance campaigned on a platform of giving a backbone to a Labour-led government. If this is the best we can expect, we may as well pack our bags and leave the country now," Mr. Hipkins concluded.

ENDS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hipkins - President Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association (Inc.) Te Ropu Tauira o te Kura Wananga o te Upoko o te Ika a Maui

+64 (4) 473 8566 VUWSA Office +64 (4) 499 7100 facsimile +64 (021) 707 927 cellular
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

© Scoop Media