29 March 2012

Govt Continues To Fail Students

The Government’s decision to freeze the student allowance parental income threshold is a further barrier to higher education, the Green Party said today.

“This is the first step in a dangerous attack on students that will result in fewer people moving into tertiary education,” Green Party students spokesperson Holly Walker said.

The Government announced today that there will be no increase to the student allowance parental income threshold this year, meaning that some students who would have been eligible will now miss out.

“Freezing the parental income threshold will result in more students having to borrow to live, actually increasing the total amount of student debt.

“This flies in the face of the Government’s claims of wanting to rein in student debt.

“While 1,500 students will be affected in the short term, experience from the 1990s shows that freezing the parental income threshold will result in a significant reduction in the proportion of students receiving an allowance over time because of inflation and rising costs of living.

“The Minister of Tertiary Education has signalled further changes to student allowances which are very concerning.

“Minister Joyce is using the current economic climate as a reason for cutting the student loan scheme, but it is even more important in times like these that we have an open, accessible tertiary education system so that New Zealanders can upskill and retrain.

ENDS

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