Headline: Joyce has eyes closed over hard-hit regions
Steven Joyce can’t deny that abandoning his Government’s commitment to regional polytechnics has done real damage, says Labour’s Tertiary Education Spokesperson Megan Woods.
“Mr Joyce likes to talk up a commitment to ‘investing in priority areas’.
“However it is clear the government has no such obligations regarding the ‘priority areas’ of Canterbury, Gisborne/Hawkes Bay, Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast, Otago, Taranaki, Waikato and Wellington.
“Changes wrought by Mr Joyce have seen courses at these regional centres cut, staff sacked, and fewer places for students.
“Mr Joyce’s refusal to acknowledge the impact of his policies during his appearance at the Education and Science Select Committee this morning shows the extent to which he and the National Government have given up on the regions.
“The tragedy is that if you look at just one of those regional centres you can see the damage that is being done.
“Take for example the Hawkes Bay EIT. It lost $2.3 million of Foundation Learning funding in 2013, resulting in the loss of 320 full time places for students along with 13 full time staff.
“This is yet more evidence that Steven Joyce sees education as a cost to be cut.
“Labour on the other hand firmly believes it is an investment in our future.”
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