MEDIA RELEASE
Date: October 2003
Attention: Political/Education Reporters
For: Immediate Release
ATSA celebrates women in tertiary education.
A ‘celebrate women in tertiary education week’ is being held to acknowledge the commitment women make to the future,
through undertaking tertiary education.
The week is an Aotearoa Tertiary Students Association, Women in Action (AWA), initiative that runs from the 20-25
October across New Zealand.
“There are many obstacles to women choosing to study, and often we concentrate only on the negative. That women will
take longer to pay off their loans, that women face safety and gender discrimination issues on most campuses in New
Zealand, this week is about looking at the positive,” Julie Pettett, President of ATSA says.
The celebrate women in tertiary education week is being held to recognise the importance of women in tertiary education
in Aotearoa New Zealand and will involve various activities, from BBQ’s to guest speakers, on campuses throughout New
Zealand.
“There is a ground swell of women returning to education to empower the future and in many cases that of their children,
it is about time we recognised the massive commitment and courage these women have,” says Pettett.
Education is one of the most critical areas of empowerment for women.
Ensuring women receive basic education is a sure way to give them more power over their lives.
The right of women to education is a basic human right enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and also
the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
However, millions of women throughout the world never have a chance to learn to read or write. The ‘celebrate women in
tertiary education week’ is an appreciation of the freedom New Zealand women have to make positive change in their lives
by choosing education.
ENDS
For further comment, contact:
Julie Pettett ATSA National President Cell phone 029 939 1417 (04) 9391417
The Aotearoa Tertiary Students’ Association
Representing University, Polytechnic and Wananga students