Minister’s Oblivious Response Yet Another Example of Government Inertia

21 APRIL 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The oblivious response from Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith on 1 News last night to calls from the Aotearoa Students’ Alliance to improve students’ welfare is yet another example of the Government’s callous inaction on the issue.

Jack Close, spokesperson for the Aotearoa Students’ Alliance says: “Mr Goldsmith acknowledged the gap between the cost of living and StudyLink’s loan living costs at $178.81 a week, but wiped his hands of the problem, claiming students should simply ‘make a contribution themselves’. The Government is making it very clear that they take no responsibility for the wellbeing of students, despite having known for 10 years that their current living cost policy is incoherent”.

“Claiming students should handle the problem themselves is a lazy and callous approach to improving welfare for a group who are cutting back on food just to pay rent.

“This approach only propagates inequality, where students with high-income backgrounds who do not work are advantaged when competing against students with low-income backgrounds who must. Naturally, working students face a time and stress burden – and their grades will reflect that.”

The Aotearoa Students’ Alliance calls on Paul Goldsmith to urgently review the living costs policy, which his own Ministry says “has no clear rationale”.

You can watch the 1 News item here: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/students-left-20-food-higher-rents-stretch-student-budgets

ENDS

© Scoop Media