Minister’s signals worry students

Minister’s signals worry students

Student leaders are concerned at changes afoot in the tertiary sector, following comments by new Minister for Tertiary Education, Hon Steven Joyce, in his first speech in the role this morning where he outlined the introduction of performance-based funding and signalled restricted access to student loans.

“NZUSA supports the Government’s focus on quality and its’ commitment to ensuring all New Zealanders have opportunities to access world class skills and knowledge, however we have concerns at the approach being taken to deliver this,” said New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) Co-President, David Do. “Measuring the performance of tertiary institutions has been well signalled; however the measure of attaching funding to student retention and completion rates is an unwelcome addition,” added Do.

“We do not share the Minister’s confidence that tertiary institutions will be prompted to provide more support to their students under this new system. They are already operating within a restricted funding environment, and we’re worried about how they will be able to provide extra support if there is no further investment from Government,” said Do.

Of particular concern is the Minister’s new push for restrictions on student loans, linking them to academic progress.

“Most students do work hard and take their studies seriously, and we’re concerned at the unintended consequences of any blanket change to the student loan scheme,” said Delaney. “Tying access to student loans to academic progress is unnecessary and restrictive because institutions are already monitoring student performance. This policy change could actively work against the Government’s own priorities to get more young people and Maori and Pasifika students into higher education,” added Delaney.

“Most students are reliant on the loans scheme in order to access higher education, and most borrow to live simply because they have no other choice – no access to allowances and no support from parents. To jeopardise this important back-up would be extremely worrying,” concluded Delaney.

ENDS