Students Host A ‘Funeral’ March For The Death Of Tertiary Education

Students against Cuts (SAC) are holding a ‘funeral’ march from Victoria University, Kelburn Campus to Parliament Grounds at 12pm Tuesday the 1st of August to protest the ongoing mass staff cuts happening across the tertiary sector that threaten public education. SAC wishes to demonstrate to the Government what the future of tertiary education looks like if staff cuts go ahead, and the determination of students to fight for their educators.

Students Against Cuts is a group of students from Victoria University of Wellington and Massey University who are organising to oppose staff and course cuts at their universities. The Victoria University branch includes students from Unions Wellington, Greens at Vic, Students for a Living Wage, VicLabour, VUW International Socialists, Bolshevik Club VUW, and Te Nuku Mauī. SAC stands in solidarity with the Tertiary Education Union and Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. SAC's first demand is full staff retention. Secondly, SAC demands tertiary education system reform, so we move away from the current user-pays, competitive, bums-on-seats model that caused these mass staff cuts.

“This funeral for public tertiary education seems to be something that this Government wants. We need a moratorium on staff cuts now so that we can build the future that we want,” said SAC Massey spokesperson Romany Tasker-Poland.

There’s no point in a future higher education review, if today and tomorrow, universities will continue to take brutal slashes at the tertiary sector. Education cuts do not heal. Whilst the $128m funding announcement saved some jobs, it certainly does not save all,” said SAC VUW spokesperson Sophie Orr.

SAC encourages anyone willing to fight these staff cuts to attend our ‘funeral’ march at 12pm Tuesday the 1st of August. There are two paths for the future of tertiary education, one being the death of tertiary education or one where we value tertiary education as a public good.

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