Clark Misleads Parliament Over Tertiary Reality

HELEN CLARK MISLEADS PARLIAMENT OVER TERTIARY REALITY

The Prime Minister’s speech at the opening of Parliament glossed over the grim reality of debt and poverty for students, Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association President Amanda Hill said today.

The Prime Ministers speech focussed on the Fee Maxima scheme, which has resulted in tuition fee increases across the country, and the Performance Based Research Fund, which forces academics to compete for funding, a system that is proving detrimental to the quality of education in tertiary institutions.

“Labour campaigned on affordable education, yet they have failed to address six billion dollars of student debt, they have failed to realistically adjust the parental income thresholds within the allowance system, and they have failed to reinstate the Emergency Unemployment Benefit, leaving many students without an income over summer” Hill said today.

There had been no indication by the Minister of the number of students who would qualify. “We urge Labour not to sit on its laurels, but to deliver on the promises they made to their student voters. The Labour coalition has had little impact on student debt and poverty in New Zealand” Hill said.

ENDS

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