Herald columnist Tapu Misa has berated government ministers for failing to provide the money to give struggling new Zealanders a chance at education.” The minister of education Anne Tolley confirmed last week that 6000 to 8000 potential polytechnic students could be turned away from study this year because the government would not be providing funding for them.
“There is no more money, and so that means we all have to prioritise and that means some people are going to miss out. Yes, that’s the reality of an economic recession,” she said.
Mrs Tolley also has cut funding for adult and community education by 80 percent, cut the tripartite funding that had been making university salaries more competitive internationally, and removed funding for many projects that helped Māori, Pacific Island and other underrepresented student into tertiary education.
Ms Misa says minister Tolley trumpets the Government’s “commitment to strengthening the ladder of opportunity”, while slashing by more than 80 per cent the funding for the adult night classes relied on by some 200,000 people.
“Even if you ignored their intrinsic social value, particularly for low-income and migrant communities, there’s a solid economic argument from a 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers report which estimated the national economic gain of this type of adult education at around $4.8 billion to $6.3 billion.”
“One could mount an equally strong argument for another “leg-up”, a training allowance which allowed solo mums like Social Development Minister Paula Bennett to put themselves through university while on the DPB. That’s no longer available to those wanting to do university degrees or diplomas, but only for school-based courses or basic tertiary certificates. Which seems to contradict the Government’s stated goal for more of the high-level qualifications needed for that productive, knowledge-based economy that’s supposed to be our economic salvation,” concludes Ms Misa.
Herald columnist Tapu Misa has berated government ministers for failing to provide the money to give struggling new Zealanders a chance at education. The minister of education Anne Tolley confirmed last week that 6000 to 8000 potential polytechnic students could be turned away from study this year because the government would not be providing funding for them.
“There is no more money, and so that means we all have to prioritise and that means some people are going to miss out. Yes, that’s the reality of an economic recession,” she said.
Mrs Tolley also has cut funding for adult and community education by 80 percent, cut the tripartite funding that had been making university salaries more competitive internationally, and removed funding for many projects that helped Māori, Pacific Island and other underrepresented student into tertiary education.
Ms Misa says minister Tolley trumpets the Government’s “commitment to strengthening the ladder of opportunity”, while slashing by more than 80 per cent the funding for the adult night classes relied on by some 200,000 people.
“Even if you ignored their intrinsic social value, particularly for low-income and migrant communities, there’s a solid economic argument from a 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers report which estimated the national economic gain of this type of adult education at around $4.8 billion to $6.3 billion.”
“One could mount an equally strong argument for another “leg-up”, a training allowance which allowed solo mums like Social Development Minister Paula Bennett to put themselves through university while on the DPB. That’s no longer available to those wanting to do university degrees or diplomas, but only for school-based courses or basic tertiary certificates. Which seems to contradict the Government’s stated goal for more of the high-level qualifications needed for that productive, knowledge-based economy that’s supposed to be our economic salvation,” concludes Ms Misa.
