Students Concerned About Staffing Cuts

Imminent staffing cuts at Victoria University of Wellington threaten the quality of the programmes being provided and draw into question the principles upon which New Zealand Universities are being run, according to Chris Hipkins, President of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association.

"Friday's announcement that up to 25 academic staff in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences are to have their jobs axed is particularly alarming for students. On the one hand fees continue to rise, on the other the market model for tertiary education is jeopardising quality,"

"You simply can't offer a high quality, public education when you have less staff doing more work for less pay. New Zealand society will be the big loser,"

"The new government has signalled that they want to see an end to the competitive market model that tertiary institutions have adopted, it's time Universities took this on board and did something about it," Mr. Hipkins said.

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