Loans simply to live: Greens join student protest
25th January 2008
Loans simply to live: Greens join student protest
Green Party Education Spokesperson Metiria
Turei is to join tertiary
students at Parliament to
protest student allowance polices which have
forced the
average student debt up to nearly $30,000.
The Green
Party's cooperation agreement with the Government
requires
them to make budget allocations for raising
parental income thresholds
which will increase the number
of students eligible for student
allowances.
"The
Green Party wants to make sure the number of students
getting
full allowances increases, as that is where the
real need is," Mrs
Turei says.
"If the Government
simply raises the top threshold, so that more
students
are entitled to $20 a week, it will be a failure to meet
our
agreement and a gross insult to students."
New
research released today shows that just to cover essential
living
costs, students are required to take out bank
loans and use overdrafts
and credit cards.
"There is
no justification for students being the only group
in
society forced to borrow simply to live.
"This
inequity is directly reflected in a significant reduction
of
enrolments from students from poorer backgrounds, down
from 15 percent
in 2004 to 6 percent in 2007.
"The new
research shows that 88 percent of students believe
that
loans, which are taken out just to survive, will
have some impact on
their ability to buy a house.
"Over a third say it will impact other important life
decisions such
as when to have children and ability to
save for the future.
"These are significant decisions that
no previous generation has had
to consider on the basis
of a crippling loan often acquired while
still a teenager
and in the early twenties.
"Universal student allowances
must be restored if we are to deal with
the ramifications
of a generation growing up in debt such as the loss
of
our graduates to overseas jobs, the inability to get into
the
housing market, and the forced delay starting
families," Mrs Turei
says.
"The fact is that
Government policies are falling far short of a fair
deal
for tertiary students who are being compelled out of the
country,
either to earn enough to pay off their debt or
to avoid
it
altogether."
ENDS