News that students are clocking up debts of around $130,000 comes as no surprise and points to a trend that will
continue unless urgent attention is given to the under funding of the tertiary sector, according to Victoria University
of Wellington Students’ Association President Chris Hipkins.
“Over the past decade more and more of the cost of tertiary education has been shifted onto students. It is this
increase, coupled with lack of other financial support from the government, that has lead to this massive debt being
created,” Mr. Hipkins said.
“The election of the new Labour/Alliance government last year was a very positive sign for the tertiary sector, and the
new governments commitment to education has been refreshing to say the least,”
“However, for their talk to be meaningful, Labour and the Alliance will need to back it up with extra money. Our
universities simply can’t go on any longer with the resources they have. If the government doesn’t put more money into
tertiary education, and quickly, then quality will continue to be compromised, and student fees will continue to
increase,”
“In recent weeks we have seen Massey University announce major staffing cuts, and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Other universities will follow their lead shortly, and at the end of the day students and education will be the losers,”
Chris Hipkins said.
“The only way to bring student fees down and ensure that the quality of the New Zealand tertiary education sector is
maintained is for the government to provide an immediate injection of extra funding,”
“Until that happens, we can look forward to more fee increases, more staff redundancies, and a lower standard of
education,” Mr. Hipkins concluded.
ENDS