Government should heed OECD advice on value

Government should heed OECD advice on value of Tertiary Education

Steven Joyce and the National Government need to listen to the OECD who have called on governments to increase investment in tertiary education to boost jobs and grow economies out of the recession, Grant Robertson Labour Tertiary Education Spokesperson said today.

“In the OECD's annual global education report, Education at a Glance, launched yesterday in Paris , the Secretary-General of the OECD has highlighted the importance of investing in tertiary education. Their research has shown that those with tertiary qualifications have come through the recession far better than those who do not. Moreover the report shows that investment by governments in tertiary education provide a huge rate of return to the country as a whole.

"For New Zealand the report shows that for every dollar invested in a student in tertiary education there is a return from graduates of $8.30 for males and $5.90 for females. This is in fact below the OECD average, but it indicates that the government's penny pinching approach to tertiary education is taking New Zealand in the wrong direction.

"Right around New Zealand universities are restricting entry to their institutions, polytechnics are facing millions of dollars of funding cuts, and the Minister is devising ways of "dampening demand" through tinkering with the student loan scheme. This is exactly the opposite of what should be happening.

“Our friends in Australia have already heeded the call and worked out that investing in developing a skilled and educated population is the best way out of a recession by lifting the cap on enrolments and investing an extra $1 billion into tertiary education over the last two Budgets.

“The government has so far shown that it is focused on short term political management rather than taking a long term approach to investing in New Zealanders. It needs to listen to the advice from the OECD and make education and training a driver of economic growth and social progress." Grant Robertson said.

ENDS