5 December 2012 MEDIA STATEMENT
Steven Joyce just doesn’t get it
For Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce’s to say that it is “good news” that 30,000 fewer people were undertaking
tertiary education in 2011 than the year before shows just how out of touch the National government is, Labour’s
Tertiary Education, Skills and Training spokesperson Grant Robertson says.
“If Steven Joyce thinks that its good news that people are missing out on education and training opportunities, I would
hate to see his idea of bad news. This is typical of Mr Joyce, who sees the cost of everything, and the value of
nothing.
“There are now fewer people in tertiary education in New Zealand than there were a decade ago. This is hardly a positive
sign, especially in a period of high unemployment when we would want people to be re-training and gaining new skills to
help lift us out of the economic doldrums. We need more people gaining skills and re-training if our economy is to grow
and jobs are to be created.
‘It is true that there was exploitation of the funding system in the middle of the last decade that saw a major spike in
enrolments. But that was well and truly dealt with before National came into office.
“Mr Joyce claims that the drop in enrolments relates to pre-degree courses. This is no reason to celebrate - these
courses often act as an entry point for those who have struggled in the education system or who need to re-train.
“Taking opportunities away from those people is as short sighted as it is heartless.
“The reduction in enrolments is a direct result of National’s cuts in funding across the tertiary sector from adult and
community education through to Polytechnics. They have also reduced access to both student loans and allowances.”
“No one should be in any doubt that this is part of the Government’s strategy. Shortly after becoming Tertiary Education
Minister Mr Joyce said it was his plan to ‘dampen demand’. This means denying people the opportunity to achieve their
potential.
“Mr Joyce needs to stop seeing education as a cost to be cut and start investing in New Zealand’s future,” Grant
Robertson said.
ends