Fleur Fitzsimons
NZUSA Co-President
Students support funding for Maori and Pasifika students
The ACT Party has once again shown how utterly out of touch they are with students, this time by attacking the Special
Supplementary Grants (SSG) for Maori and Pasifika students. The SSG has led to great initiatives and should be retained,
say the New Zealand University Students' Association (NZUSA).
"The feedback from student groups is that these grants are really needed and that they have led to greater support for
students, " said Fleur Fitzsimons, Co-President of NZUSA. "Deborah Coddington's attack on the SSGs shows how little she
knows of the reality of life on campus for students."
"Maori and Pasifika students are still under-represented in many parts of the tertiary system, such as at postgraduate
level. These grants do not represent an unfair advantage for these students, but a mechanism to try and achieve greater
equity at our public tertiary institutions."
"ACT may believe that all students should have equal access to tertiary education, but the reality is that Maori and
Pasifika students have not had equal access to education," said Fitzsimons. "Their participation has started to improve
because nearly everyone apart from Coddington recognises that different students have different needs."
ENDS