The government must accept responsibility for the troubles being faced at Victoria University and address the effect of
a decade of under-funding if the quality and diversity of education is to be maintained, according to Victoria
University of Wellington Students' Association President Chris Hipkins.
"It is inevitable that jobs will be lost as part of Victoria University's Deficit Reduction Project and this will
certainly have an impact on the quality of the teaching and research carried out within the University. If you have less
staff taking on greater workloads, students will suffer," Mr. Hipkins said.
"The University is caught between a rock and a hard place. The government insists they must break even, and yet the
funding provided is inadequate,"
"While we welcome the relief that this years fee freeze has given students, we also acknowledge the pressure that this
has placed the University under. The extra funding from the Government doesn't even keep up with inflation, let alone do
anything to rectify the problems that have accumulated over the past decade," Chris Hipkins said.
Mr Hipkins called on the Government to make a review of tertiary funding an urgent priority for the Tertiary Education
Advisory Commission (TEAC) and increase the amount of money provided to universities as soon as possible.
"Ultimate responsibility for the state of the tertiary sector rests with the Government, and unless they are willing to
step in soon we will continue to short-change generations of New Zealanders," Mr Hipkins concluded.
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Chris Hipkins
President
Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association (Inc.)
Te Ropu Tauira o te Kura Wananga o te Upoko o te Ika a Maui
+64 (4) 473 8566 VUWSA Office
+64 (4) 499 7100 facsimile
+64 (4) 384 6389 after hours
+64 (021) 707 927 cellular
Check Out VUWSA Online:
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/vuwsa/index.html
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