Headline: Education under huge pressure to cut costs
Documents released by Treasury confirm the Government is dampening demand for tertiary education to balance the books, says Labour’s Tertiary Education spokesperson Megan Woods.
“The documents note that ‘even if pressures are scaled back and more aggressive savings options are taken, the savings generated in Budget 2013 in 2015/16 and 2016/17, would not be sufficient to address the funding gap from Budget 2012 occurring in 2015-2016’.
“In other words cuts have to be made.
“We’ve already seen a huge drop off in industry training numbers. It now seems Steven Joyce is also considering changes to tuition subsidies or fulltime student allocations.
“One area we’ve seen the Government aggressively targeting is student support, where they’ve taken opportunities away from people wanting to retrain mid-life. Now we know why.
“Treasury specifically noted that aligning the funding rates for Private Training Establishments should not be a priority in Budget 2013, yet the Government forged ahead anyway – to the detriment of students.
“I’m under no illusion that times have been tough financially, but if it’s about priorities, then education should be at the top of the list.
“National’s strategy to dampen down demand for study at universities and polytechnics while increasing funding for private education providers, only confirms its priorities are wrong.
“The Government needs to realise that education is more than just a cost to cut.
“Labour believes it is a vital investment in our future. We recognise that if New Zealand wants to continue to rank as one of the most educated countries and enjoy the benefits this brings, we must continue to value and prioritise investment in our education system.”
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